Beyond Hearts and Minds
by XyoushaX
Summary: naruxhina, maybe sasuxsaku Demons of yore spring up for unknown reasons. And the Priestess to take care of it... is Hyuuga Hinata.
1. Normal Day with Snake Demons

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Summary: Demons of yore are springing up for unknown reasons. Recruited by a child ghost, Hinata falls into the messy job of sealing things up. Naruto and Sasuke are unwittingly dragged in... and what is Sakura doing behind the scenes?

This story follows the manga up to the first part, and is an AU to the Shippuden.

Pairings: naruhina, and maybe sasusaku.

Mood: funny to weird to dark.

Rating: PG-13 for language, violence, and sexual innuendo. You have been warned.

x

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

-Writing-

(( Flashback ))

x

Chapter 1: Normal Day with Snake-Demons

* * *

The ankles of a sixteen-year-old brushed through the uncut grass. Hyuuga Hinata looked up, giving a smile to the cheerful sun. Now a promoted chuunin, she had duties to attend.

Lifting up a hand in meditation, the dark-haired girl pinched her fingers together. She willed pure chakra to go into them. An irregular, tickling sensation went through.

Hinata dropped her hand with a sigh. Her father told her that when a smooth feeling like water passed through her fingers, she would be near to mastering the Juuken.

But even after years of training, it still did not feel right. Each Gentle Fist move of hers was like one small explosion after another. They were by far not as precise, accurate, and smooth like those of her father. Or Neji.

(( "Smooth feeling in your fingers?" Something like a snort came from a thirteen-year-old Neji. "I learned how to do that at nine."

Hinata lowered her eyes. "I just... wanted to know if..."

"I'm busy." Neji cut her off before she could ask for training. "I'm sorry, Hinata-sama. But my team has an important mission to attend to." ))

Hinata almost giggled at how Neji had loosened up over the years. The family relations within the Hyuuga had lightened up — Hiashi was tutoring Neji as much as, if not more than, Hanabi in the family martial arts. Neji acted much more like an older brother to Hinata and Hanabi, which made Hinata extremely happy. Any change in the household for the better was a good thing.

But there still was an inkling doubt in her, that she was not meant to be part of the Hyuuga. She could perform many of the disabling moves without effort, the swift palm- and finger-thrusts that composed the Jyuuken style. But it made her feel uncomfortable in a strange manner, as if there were something more that she could do.

Hinata walked past the torii, the red-painted gates of the Shinto shrine. The sun warmed her pale skin quickly, making her already wish for shade. The day was almost eerily perfect.

* * *

"SASUKE!" Naruto shouted. "I'm gonna kill you!"

Sasuke ducked. Naruto's flying kick was evaded easily, but there were other tricks up the fox-boy's sleeve, and Sasuke braced for more.

Naruto aimed a knee at the Uchiha's face. In his opinion, Sasuke was much too pretty for his own good. A broken nose wouldn't be too bad — it fact, it might assist to look more manly.

Sasuke caught the attack, and threw Naruto across the training hall. The Uchiha growled; his rival was taking it easy on him. "You're not attacking seriously, idiot."

"Yes, I am." A voice directly behind Sasuke laughed.

Sasuke felt his left arm pulled up, before Naruto's elbow sank painfully below his rib cage. 'Shit, a Kage-Bunshin!' Sasuke twisted out of its clutches, and then performed a roundhouse kick. It skidded on the floor of the dojo before exploding in a poof of smoke.

Sasuke huffed. A shadow fell upon him. His hand formed half of a seal.

Naruto tackled nothing but a log. Sasuke appeared ten meters away from the panting Naruto. "You're terrible."

A vein popped out of Naruto's forehead. "Sasuke, I'm gonna kill you!" he shouted once more, before charging.

Two jounin watched the scene from above, leaning on the railing.

"They seem to be doing more than well." Gai spread his arms out, enjoying the fresh breeze going through the window of the dojo. The sunlight reflected off his ever-clean teeth. "I knew that the wonders of Youth could cure that pupil of yours from the clutches of Evil! BA HA HA!"

"Mm." It was obvious that Kakashi only half-listened to the rants. Gai's hands tightened into fists.

Ten minutes passed. The two teenagers continued to fight. They were as yet evenly matched.

"Admit it — Sasuke — you're too damn — tired," Naruto said between heaves of air.

"Shut — UP," the raven-haired teenager answered, his hands on his knees. He straightened up, ran his fingers through his sweat-drenched black hair. Sasuke honestly had no care about his appearance to others, but so-called 'cool' moves — running his fingers through his hair, for example — annoyed Naruto to no end. And since Naruto annoyed him countless times before, Sasuke just considered it friendly payback.

Besides, aggravating the opponent was one way of increasing their willingness to fight. And what Sasuke needed more than anything, in this god-forsaken village of Konoha, was a challenge.

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged kicks and punches for ten more minutes.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. The fight was not a strategic, well-thought-out spar anymore. It was a bare-fisted rumble. Chakra had run out long ago, and the weapons had been all thrown; now they were just using taijutsu. Naruto and Sasuke were panting and coughing up saliva from all the physical exercise.

Kakashi decided that it was now time to intervene. He disappeared from his spot, and reappeared in between Naruto and Sasuke. Unlike one tense moment in the past, the jounin did not have to shove the fighting teenagers away from each other. Sasuke just halted, and Naruto skidded to a stop.

"Sparring is over," said Kakashi.

"No — it's — not!" Naruto whined, the exhaustion showing in his sharp intakes of breath. Sasuke said nothing; he merely took the time to regain oxygen. But his dark eyes held the same determination to conclude a winner of the spar.

Yet both teenagers dropped to their knees from exhaustion. Kakashi tapped a finger on both of their foreheads. "Do things in moderation. All work and no play makes you overworked and dysfunctional."

"How about no work and all porn-reading makes a bad teacher?" Naruto muttered under his breath.

The silver-haired jounin gave an embarrassed cough. "Naruto, Jiraiya is expecting you at the training grounds within two hours. Remember that."

"Yes, sir, yes," the blond teenager droned. Naruto pulled himself from the ground. He then turned around — and gave one exaggerated cough in Sasuke's direction, spit and all. Before Sasuke could regain chakra in his legs and pummel him, the mischievous fox-boy ran out of the training hall. "See ya later!" Naruto said with a laugh, his throat already clear enough for him to shout.

Sasuke wiped away several flecks of Naruto's saliva from his face. 'That moron! I'd set up smoke-bombs in his house for that if I weren't monitored...'

Kakashi sighed. Even after four-and-a-half years, Sasuke and Naruto still kept up their fierce rivalry in a rather childish manner. At least Sasuke's rehabilitation efforts appeared successful. It was on a large streak of luck that Sasuke had assimilated back into village life.

Sasuke had served Orochimaru as an apprentice for nearly two years, and barely escaped when an attack on the Sound Village came about. To the surprise of Kakashi and Tsunade, it was Haruno Sakura who brought Sasuke back to Konoha.

The pink-haired girl had been mysteriously abducted, half a year after Sasuke abandoned the Leaf. Nobody knew who had taken her, where she had been, or what had happened to her. Her missing-citizen status lasted a little more than a year. But the kunoichi managed to find her way back to Konoha, safe and sound. It had only been a lucky coincidence that she ran into a battered and beaten Sasuke along the way.

Both had been fourteen at the time.

(( "Do you want to go home together?" Sakura offered. ))

Sasuke's nerves chilled at that memory. That night, the feel of her aura was ethereal. He couldn't resist the offer, especially when she had been embracing him so gently. He had felt... powerless.

(( "They'll probably interrogate you, and put you under surveillance," Sakura continued. "But I've been missing as well. I'll be going through the exact same process." ))

After they arrived in their home village, Sakura visited Sasuke often. She knew that few trusted him in the village. The girl did not trail him like a lovesick puppy as she used to, but she provided the minimal company he needed.

That was, until Naruto came back from his journey with Jiraiya. It was kind of awkward at first, but things eventually patched up. Eventually.

* * *

(( A hyperactive voice echoed in the middle of the night. "First stop: the Ichiraku Ramen!"

The blond teenager dashed through the lamp-lit streets.

Two people walking together froze in their tracks. The female's face lit up, while a disgruntled look passed the other.

Naruto slowed down in his tracks. His legs nearly gave out as he saw a familiar mane of pink hair.

"NARUTO!" Sakura ecstatically shrieked. The girl sprinted to the blond teenager, and then proceeded to squeeze the air out of him in a large bear hug.

"Sa- Sakura-chan?" Naruto choked out. He gave a whoop of joy as he tightly hugged her back. He buried his nose in her rose-colored tresses. "Where have you been? I was so worried when you were kidnapped, and — oh MAN!" He began to laugh, happy that his old teammate was safe.

The blond boy then noticed another figure, watching him embrace Sakura. Raven-black, messy hair. Blue clothing. And that ever-disgusting curl of the lip.

Uchiha Sasuke looked stiff, nervous, and annoyed all at the same time.

Naruto's blue eyes flashed. "YOU!" He pulled Sakura protectively closer to him. He had no idea what to say or do, seeing that Sasuke looked like a normal civilian of Konoha. Again.

What was Naruto supposed to do, after he and his comrades had nearly lost their lives in their attempt to retrieve Sasuke? And after his long training trip with Jiraiya... No reasonable idea came at the moment. Naruto simply decided to repeat what he said, just in case Sasuke did not understand the first time. "YOU!"

Sasuke gave off an angry hiss through his teeth, and raised his hands in defeat. "I'm on probation, moron. I can't attack you."

"PROBATION! That's _it_?" Naruto exclaimed. "After what you did!" Naruto took a hold of Sakura's shoulders, and put her to the side. His face was relaxed when looking at her. "Sakura-chan, stay out of this, okay?"

Sakura noticed the irregular silkiness in Naruto's voice. "Naruto, you're not going to—"

Naruto threw a punch at the raven-haired boy's face. Sasuke could not dodge it — his body was still in the healing process after a grueling session of training with Kakashi — and so Naruto's fist connected painfully with his jaw.

Sasuke clutched the side of his face. He tasted blood. "Naruto, you idiot!" he snarled.

"YOU'RE the one who's an idiot, idiot!" Naruto's hand gripped the collar of Sasuke's shirt. He wanted to punch the traitor again, just to enjoy the sensation twice — but he froze. A peculiar sound echoed into the night air.

Sakura was giggling to herself. Her lips curved into a naughty-looking grin. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the scene. Naruto was rather surprised; she wasn't hitting him over the head or yelling at him after picking a fight with Sasuke.

Sakura's giggles transformed into a hearty laugh.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?" he asked coldly. For some reason, he felt embarrassed and light-headed with the tinkling sound of her laughter.

"It's just that — both of you boys — are so STUPID!" Sakura snorted. Naruto and Sasuke blinked, and she waved them away. "Go on with your male macho bonding; I'll go home now." She pointed at the tree above. "Kakashi-sensei is watching you anyway." The slight shake of a branch signaled a twitched greeting by the silver-haired jounin.

"Wait, Sakura-chan, you have to join me at the Ichiraku!" Naruto ran after her. "Don't leave me here with this bastard!" ))

* * *

Sasuke still did not exactly know what Sakura had meant by 'male macho bonding.' She was most probably referring to the tendency of some guys to punch each other by means of a greeting. 'That's what she thought,' Sasuke decided. 'I won't think anymore about it.'

He and Naruto had taken the exams with Hyuuga Hinata two years ago, as Sakura could not attend it for unknown reasons. All three passed. Afterwards, Sakura retook the Chuunin exams thrice, each time with random Konoha ninja she barely knew.

Sakura had the option to work with her old team again, even as a genin, but she had declined. She devoted herself to Tsunade's medical lessons, only now and then helping out other genin teams whenever a substitute was needed. Bizarre as it seemed, it was as if Sakura tried to avoid working with Naruto and Sasuke.

It sort of made sense: after all, Sakura had always been the dead weight of Team Seven. Why should she continue to work with Naruto and Sasuke, when it was clear that they surpassed her in being a ninja? She would only hold them down.

On the one hand, it was a relief to Sasuke. He could continue his intensive studies in the Shinobi Arts. Once Sasuke proved himself skillful and trustworthy, he could be promoted to ANBU within his teens. True, his older brother Itachi had already beaten him by becoming a squad captain at the age of twelve, but Sasuke didn't care. With Kakashi's long experience in the ANBU, the younger Uchiha was on the right track.

On the other hand, it was rather lonely at times without Sakura around. Sasuke now and then spotted his former teammate doing menial jobs around the village, like babysitting or gardening. Many times, he saw her in the Ninja library. The pink-haired girl haunted the stacks like an unsatisfied ghost, usually researching something like medicine or anatomy.

The kunoichi sometimes noticed Sasuke looking at her from a distance — she would give him a smile and a gentle wave. He would nod, and turn away. That was about it for their usual level of conversation.

The young Uchiha swallowed the bitter pill that they were separated, just like many friends were on the road of life. It was probably for the best for both of them.

* * *

Hinata's hands formed into an In. 'Byakugan!'

Her vision shot forward like a bird in flight. White and blue images flew past her, bringing her mind into a whirl.

"Hyuuga, is there anybody around yet?"

"Nobody," Hinata answered. "Not within a hundred meters, anyway." She halted. "Wait... there are some traps on the ground. Mostly strings and exploding notes here and there."

"The last crew must have forgotten to clean them up." Another Konoha ninja turned his head. "I'll signal to the other teams to watch out for them."

Hinata exhaled as she relaxed her eyes. For a B-ranked mission, the team was on guard duty for a mansion. The owner of the property was holding a party there — even though he was a minor lord, he still demanded security in case assassins targeted the guests.

Hinata leaned against the tree, a bit mesmerized at the many richly-dressed ladies of the gathering. They seemed beautiful and well-off. Their smiles seemed strangely forced, as if their makeup were of paste.

A strange hissing sound rang through the forest. The ninja tensed up.

'One more time: Byakugan!' A renewing surge of chakra went into Hinata's white eyes.

She spotted a large animal. It looked like a snake.

The only thing strange about it was that it was immensely large. Hinata frowned: this part of the forest, especially the area around the lord's property, was supposed to have been exterminated of mutated snakes.

Hinata then examined the snake's head. What she saw shocked her: the animal had three eyes. The reptile's gaze seemed to drill into her very soul, as if knowing well that she spotted him.

A shudder went up Hinata's spine. "Large snake, coming this way!"

One of her teammates looked at her. "What?"

"Quiet!" the leader hissed at him. He turned to Hinata. "Hyuuga, tell us its exact place. We need an attack formation before it reaches the palace."

* * *

The smell of rust tickled the inside of Naruto's nose. He was one of a group of chuunin assigned to clean out an old warehouse of weapons. A box over, Sasuke was sorting various kuani.

"Hey, Sasuke." Naruto examined a box of old shuriken. "What do you think of Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke accidentally chipped the rusty kunai he was holding. He almost growled at Naruto's sudden question. Sakura was a topic he would have rather avoided. "She's weak, and annoying," he said in a dismissive tone. He dropped the kunai into another box, trying to put full concentration back on this menial task of cleaning.

Naruto clicked his tongue in disapproval. "As far as I know, bastard, you have no idea how strong she is. You haven't seen her in combat for years, so who are you to judge?"

"You haven't worked with her, either," Sasuke said, although he silently agreed with Naruto's reasoning. He pulled up a heavy axe. 'What kind of ninja use axes? They're too heavy.'

"As for Sakura being annoying," Naruto continued, "what has she done recently to irritate you? She's been working as a medical assistant for Tsunade-no-baachan, and now and then doing D-ranked missions. You barely see her." His words jabbed into Sasuke's thoughts. "As far as I'm concerned, you're annoyed that she's not spending time with you. Too bad that she's gotten over you and moved on..."

Sasuke resisted the inclination to throw the axe at Naruto. The fox-boy was certainly lucky that there were jounin supervising them. "What are you getting at, idiot?" the Uchiha spat.

"Isn't it obvious?" Naruto said with a foxy grin. "I've seen you stare at her when she's walking, and in the few times she's close enough, your eyes are first glued on her pretty face, down her graceful neck, then chest..." Naruto shook his head. "Sasuke, if you're growing perverted like Kakashi-sensei, you certainly only show it towards Sakura-chan."

Sasuke twitched again. That was it; it was high time to retaliate. "What about you and Hinata?" A mild snort escaped him. "She would be scandalized — maybe even crying — if she knew that you're mumbling her name out in your sleep."

Naruto stiffened. How did Sasuke know?

"Actually, you were moaning, loud enough for me to hear when I came to pick you up when you overslept." Sasuke wondered why he had not thought of this tactic before: blackmail. He threw in a smirk for additional effect. "I was quite relieved to find you alone in your apartment — but what exactly do you DO there?"

Naruto's face turned a bright red. He could admit that he and Hinata had been going out for a while, and that he had been seeing her in dreams. "If you give Hinata any wrong ideas, I'll kill you," Naruto threatened.

Sasuke sneered. "You want to try?"

Naruto clenched his fists. He inhaled and exhaled, calming himself down. "No," he answered finally. "Killing you would be too easy."

**'Indeed,'** Kyuubi commented inside Naruto. **'You should teach this human friend of yours a few things about the female sex. If you ask me, he's in desperate need of a good —'**

'Kyuubi!' Naruto's thoughts shouted. 'Since when were you listening?' He growled, clutching his stomach. 'You've been talking too much recently. Stop eavesdropping.'

**'I will listen to your conversations whenever I please,'** Kyuubi retorted. **'Take my advice, whelp: if even this pompous Uchiha brat knows your feelings towards the Hyuuga girl, then the whole human village probably knows. You might as well take her full force and have a litter together.'**

Blood flushed in Naruto's cheeks. Litter? "Just shut up!"

The surrounding ninja stared at him, while Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What are you looking at?" Naruto barked at them. He pulled up a number of shackles with a scythe attached. "Let's get working!"

The observers turned around and resumed in a nervous manner.

Naruto sighed, and picked up a crate of kunai. 'Hinata, I hope you're okay with that mission of yours.' He slammed it down on another crate. 'I'm so bored.'

* * *

A ninja screamed, crashing through trees as he dropped. Hinata heard his body make a sickening thump on the ground behind her — she muffled her cry with a hand over her mouth.

The snake jetted in and through the team of ninja. It was too agile and quick for anybody to capture.

Hinata ordered her body to move. Half of her comrades lay dead in front of her. 'I have to get up!' Her fists were shaking as they held the ground. 'I am a ninja! I have to get...'

The three-eyed monster raced towards Hinata. She was frozen in fear. This was no ordinary snake. The monster's aura was something totally different from those of animals and humans.

It was a youkai — a demon of nature.

'GET UP!' Hinata willed chakra into her legs, and she disappeared from her spot. The snake sank its jaws into the ground, only to realize that the girl was gone. The long tongue shoved the dirt out the snake's jaws. The three eyes looked around for signs of the human.

**'Come out, human child.'**

Hinata nearly chocked. Did that snake just... hiss _words_ at her?

The monster flicked around its tongue, tasting the young woman's scent in the air. Her soul was also a delicate morsel, strong and pure — if he ate it, some of her power might absorb into his own.

The sixteen-year-old was frozen in her hiding spot in the trees. She could not just run away; it was her mission to protect the castle and its people. But how was she going to defeat such a three-eyed animal? She had no backup. The snake was enormous. Its smooth scales clanked against each other like metal plates.

Hinata bit her lip. There was only one strategy she could come up with. If she succeeded, what was left of her team still had a chance. But if it did not work — everyone was as good as dead.

She swallowed, and lifted up her foot.

The snake spotted her in the trees. It rushed up, spiraling around the tree trunk towards Hinata. The kunoichi stood on the trunk, adhering it with chakra so that her gaze fell directly downward.

The team's captain was barely awake as he saw the monster-snake shoot up towards Hinata. He barely had time to blink a swollen eye of his, before he realized the girl was not using any weapons. She was not even producing clones of herself to distract the monster.

Then the captain realized what her plan was: she was using herself as bait.

"HYUUGA!" he screamed from below. "What the hell are you—" He was unable to finish. He heard his own lungs gasp for fresh air, and saw his vision waver. The air was full of a hypnotizing powder. The ninja collapsed on the ground, unable to speak nor move.

Hinata jumped sideways from the snake's snapping jaws, grappled upon its neck, and swung her body around on its head. She hoped that what she had planned would at least disable the snake.

The girl concentrated — a large amount of chakra collected in her palm. It radiated a light blue. After quickly examining the snake's aura-system, Hinata slammed her glowing hand down on the beast, directly above a major chakra-artery.

The jet of energy shot through the snake's head. The animal did not move.

Hinata's palm stilled on its tough hide. 'Did it... work?'

The snake hissed in anger. It tossed Hinata up into the air like a rag doll, and she gave an exclamation of fright. 'It didn't work!'

The young lady felt the night's cold air envelope her. She was only a mouse to this monster snake. She saw the youkai-demon opened its jaws, ready to catch and swallow her whole when she fell.

Time seemed nonexistent in her mind. The veins around the Hinata's eyes disappeared; her eyes were now a pale shade of lavender again. She was going to die.

A loving sadness passed her thoughts as she closed her eyes. 'Naruto-kun, I'm sorry...'

A dark figure stood amidst the sleeping and dead soldiers. It raised a bow and arrow, and aimed towards Hinata. "You're not ready yet."

* * *

Notes:

For the Sakura fans, she'll be coming up in the next chapter.

Thedarkowns1: I couldn't read your full e-mail address in your last review of "Dimensional Exchanges". Please try again — or, e-mail me; I updated my profile. I really want your suggestions and such, so answer in any way you can!

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	2. Apprentices and Exams

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Fall semester exams are over. Yeay!

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 2: Apprentices and Exams

* * *

Hinata forced to open her eyes. From the corner of her vision, she saw a flash on the ground.

An arrow was struck in the head of the three-eyed snake. Hinata wondered what kind of arrow it was to penetrate the thick hide and bone.

Her eyes widened in shock as the arrow not only disappeared into the snake's head, but ended up shattering the back of the skull. The thin projectile seemed to glow with an unknown force, burning a large hole into the monster.

Hinata watched in amazed horror as the snake crumbled before her eyes. The skin of the monstrous reptile curled up and peeled away, and the flesh underneath disintegrated like drying clay. Soon only the bones began to fall to the ground.

The kunoichi then realized that she was falling as well. The snake had tossed her up in the air, after all. She needed a branch, or something.

Hinata attempted to focus chakra in her palms, but her body was drained. A stone dropped in her stomach. There was no way that she could get back down safely.

Unless someone caught her. Which was exactly what happened.

Hinata found herself wrapped in a set of warm arms. A flash of blonde hair passed her nose. 'Naruto-kun?'

No, not him. Naruto did not have hair long enough to tie back in a loose ponytail. Hinata was too confused and exhausted to make out the person's face.

"Do not worry, child."

From the gentle tenor of the voice, Hinata decided that it was probably a man. She was partially scared that some stranger managed to kill a snake demon and snatch her from the air. Not to mention, it was a male other than Naruto. But he seemed warm and trustworthy, as a gentle older brother would be.

He landed upon the earth quietly, cradling Hinata like a bride. The last of the demon-snake's bones clattered violently to the earth next to them, and she squeaked.

Hinata blinked. A few orbs of dim light pulsed within crevices of the skeleton. 'What are those?'

The blond stranger rested her on the safe ground, before making his way towards the demon's skeleton.

Hinata felt something pulse within her eyes as she stared into the stranger's back. A new surge of chakra flowed in. Her Byakugan renewed itself, although, it also felt somewhat different.

Her white eyes darted to the glowing spheres clustered on the skeleton. Hinata could not tell what they were. She let her eyes focus: each ball of light swirled with a slightly different energy as they floated among the bones of the snake-demon.

Her eyes cast back onto the man. He had wavy, blond hair tied back. A white montsuki wrapped around his arms and torso, and he wore light-blue hakama-pants — the traditional garb of a male worker at a Shinto shrine.

'Only miko worked at the shrine near the palace.' Hinata felt a small chill. 'Is this man a foreigner?'

The apprentice reached over the bones, and his index finger touched a glowing sphere. He whispered something. The ball of light loosened away from the demonic remains, and flew up into the sky. The blond continued to do so with the remaining orbs of light, until nothing but the dry skeleton was left. After a while, cracks formed within its pieces.

The blond man did not turn around to face Hinata. He sensed the slight terror emitting from her body. No surprise, as she had witnessed him cleaning up leftover souls the snake-demon had consumed. 'The poor child,' he thought with sympathy, 'This must be her first time seeing a demon. It would be better if she thinks the whole thing a dream.'

Hinata saw a floating line of yellow sparkles encircle her. It had appeared in her surroundings without warning. From its smell, she realized it was some type of sleeping powder.

Hinata coughed, trying in vain to push out the noxious substance from her lungs. Her eyelids grew heavy.

The girl crumpled on the ground. Her dark-blue hair streamed around her pale face as her head made a light thud on the soft ground.

The priest's apprentice walked towards the sleeping girl. He knelt down to her form, and touched her forehead. A tiny smirk tugged at his lips. 'So she's one of those with the special eyes. Maybe she will be of help after all.'

* * *

A waterfall roared above. Kakashi and Sasuke were in a session of night training. The jounin insisted that it was good practice for the ANBU, since they often worked in dark settings. Sasuke thought that it was only because Kakashi decided not to show up at all for their morning session.

Several hours of practice had already passed, when both of them stilled.

Kakashi halted. Sasuke lowered his kunai.

"You noticed?" Kakashi asked his student. Sasuke nodded, his dark eyes shifting towards the bushes.

The river nearby seemed to laugh at the Sasuke's attempt to hide his agitation. In truth, he was not scared at all with the fact that four ninja were spying on him and his teacher. He was just concerned that Kakashi would not trust him to handle this.

"Come out," Kakashi said in a bored tone. "We want to know what business you have here."

Silence.

Sasuke readied himself. Kakashi gave a nod of approval.

Sasuke drew out an object vaguely shaped like a thick, curved sword. His fingers spun it around, making it unfold to reveal itself as a Fuuma Shuriken.

'Shuriken no Jutsu: Kage no Fuusha.' (Shuriken Technique: Windmill of Shadows)

The projectile spun through the air, hacking the bushes in a vicious manner. Four shadows emerged out of the foliage before they were sliced, and Sasuke's giant weapon thudded itself into a tree.

Sasuke recognized the symbol on the hitai-ate. Four vertical lines. They were from the Amegarure no Sato — the Hidden Rain Village.

"What business do you have here?" Kakashi asked. None of the four answered. Kakashi paused, before continuing, "Without documents, we can't let you through."

The leader of the team made a gesture with the flick of his wrist. All their images blurred out of sight.

Kakashi and Sasuke immediately disappeared, understanding that this was not going to be clean confrontation.

The Ame-nin shot towards the waterfall. Kakashi followed them.

'So they're underestimating us, just because we're two?' Sasuke readied his shuriken. 'How stupid can they get?'

The Ame-nin jumped towards the rocks at the foot of the waterfall. The boulders were slippery and wet from decades of moving water, nearly impossible to hold onto, even with chakra as an adhering force. Kakashi avoided running onto the rocks, instead stepping onto the wavy surface of the river's water.

The white-haired jounin skipped out of the reach of several kunai. He then heard a light humming — Kakashi glanced back. He saw an umbrella, spinning low in the air. A second later, senbon-needles flew out of the umbrella's ribs.

Kakashi's hands formed the seals. 'Suiton: Suijin-beki!' (Water-style: Water Circle Barrier)

A cylinder of water raised itself up around Kakashi. The metal needles missed his body before falling to the water.

As the aqueous wall fell, the jounin proceeded to use whatever else the river offered him — more water. Kakashi kicked away one incoming ninja, giving himself time for a longer jutsu. 'This is for you, Zabuza.' His fingers crossed into the last seal.

'Suirou no Jutsu!' (Water Prison Technique)

Water collected around Kakashi's hand and trapped the ninja in a globe. Kakashi then turned to his student.

Sasuke glanced sideways. 'So Kakashi wants me to fight the other three while he's holding that one.' With a quick swing of his arm, Sasuke stabbed a kunai into thin air.

At the butt of Sasuke's weapon, a ninja warped into visibility. "You..." The intense pain through his stomach dispelled his illusionary hiding technique. Sasuke had been smart enough to infuse chakra in the kunai. "How did you... know?"

Sasuke's glared at him with the Sharingan, three black teardrops in each red circle. "I am the heir of the Uchiha clan. You made a mistake, using a genjutsu like that." He harshly kicked the bleeding shinobi away.

"Senpai!" A comrade of the dying ninja flicked his hands together in an order. "How dare you!'

Sasuke's red eyes whirled, and focused onto the hands of his opponent. His bloodline ability followed through with the sequence.

An explosion sounded out. Two bodies made a tough impact against the rocks as a wave of water smashed out their consciousness. The ninja knew how to utilize water for an attack, but Sasuke had beat him to it. The third Ame-nin had also been caught in the blast.

Sasuke's knees hit the water. His chakra was severely drained with that counter-attack. 'Damn, not again.' The problem with the Sharingan, Sasuke now remembered, was that to properly copy other people's jutsu, the Sharingan-holder had to be both mentally and physically strong enough to perform it. Sasuke knew the jutsu, but his body had a limit in how much chakra it could produce and hold.

Kakashi sighed. He could already see the self-criticism racing through Sasuke's brain. Although his eyes were fully developed and could catch almost any order of hand-seals, Sasuke was still a kid in many other aspects. And Sasuke was aware of it.

"I think we should get a few of our hunter-nin to take care of the bodies," Kakashi called.

Pause.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke did not seem to notice his teacher's words. His visage was stiff and frozen. His sandals made gentle slaps on the water's surface as he walked towards the floating bodies.

Sasuke walked up to the floating Ame-nin. Sasuke reached down, and pulled up one by his neck. He impassively examined the corpse. Sasuke remembered the expression of rage this man had: the face of vengeance. So that was what it looked like on a normal person. Sasuke laid the body onto the rocks.

Kakashi glanced at the ninja still in his water-prison. "We're going to have to find out some answers from you."

* * *

The sun broke through the windows of the library. Birds chirped outside.

Bright, green eyes shot open. A pink-haired genin found her body curled up in an awkward position on the desk.

Haruno Sakura let off a groan as she pulled herself up. She yawned, stretching in an unladylike manner. 'How late is it?'

She glanced at the clock. 7:12.

A loud shrill burst from the library.

"Holy shit, Mom's gonna kill me!" Sakura squeaked as she rolled up her scrolls.

It was normal for her to hang around the office and library of the Hokage, even stay up past midnight, especially on nights when there were extra wounded shinobi. Neither did she neglect her family; she always ate breakfast and dinner with her parents.

But to not go home at all without telling her them? She was sure they would freak.

Sakura skidded into the Hokage's office to complain. "Tsunade-sama! Why didn't you wake me up?"

Tsunade was fast asleep on her desk. Sakura groaned, and then hurried through the hallways.

As she jogged, the medic rubbed her shoulders to get some of the blood flowing back into her sleeping arms. This was going to be a nice sprint to her house. Her legs were still warm from the long pants she wore.

Sakura had given up her red outfit long ago. A forest-green Chinese top now covered her torso, almost like a small dress with slits on both sides of her hips. The Haruno symbol — a simple, yet graceful white circle — was stitched on each green sleeve. To preserve her modesty, Sakura wore black pants whose fabric collected around the ankles. A sturdy pair of black sandals protected her feet.

Overall, Sakura looked nothing like what a ninja should look like, except for maybe the shuriken holster strapped on her right leg and the pouch of supplies. The pink-haired girl dressed like a martial artist more than anything.

Sakura pulled the clips out of her pink hair. Having her hair up so tightly overnight made her scalp itch like a fresh burn. When her bubblegum tresses loosened, her headache was immediately dispelled.

The kunoichi slipped a little chakra in her leg muscles as she sprinted down the hallway. She then realized that she was about to run into someone at the corner. 'Shit!'

That someone evaded her incoming form, grabbed her wrist, swung her around, and slammed her back against the wall.

"Hey!" Sakura shouted at the other, even though she knew it was her fault for running in the hallways. She then realized who it was. "Oh, it's you."

Uchiha Sasuke abruptly let go of Sakura at the sound of her voice. "Watch it," he intoned. "Don't run."

Sakura rubbed her head where it had made slight impact with the wall. "Sorry, but I have to get home right now!" She readied her heels again — then stopped. Her eyes fell upon a suspicious scab on Sasuke's left shoulder. A deep cut was in the center of the roughly-shaven spot, with the surrounding skin a sickly blue.

Sakura huffed. "Poison?"

"No, duh," Sasuke muttered. He offered no resistance as Sakura roughly grabbed his wrist and dragged him to Tsunade's office.

"You bled it with a kunai to wash the toxin out. How manly of you," the medic-nin said sarcastically. 'Even though you got the idea from Naruto,' Sakura mentally added. "But I think you stabbed it too late. A little poison managed to seep into the surrounding area. Don't worry; Tsunade-sama always has something in her storage room."

Sasuke remained silent. Sakura spoke a lot more practically to him nowadays. He grimaced at the tight grip on his wrist.

"I wish you'd touch me a bit more gently," he finally said in a low tone.

"Oh, sorry!" She let go of his hand with the apology.

'I didn't say LET GO,' he inwardly complained, 'I said to touch me a bit more gently!' But there was no way in hell Sasuke was going to repeat that out-loud. It would reinforce a rather naughty suggestiveness. The heir of the Uchiha clan did not say things like that in public, much less in the Hokage's building.

Sakura slid open the door. "Tsunade-sama!"

The Hokage snored.

Sakura sighed. 'Oh, yeah. She's asleep. At least I know what to access in storage. Tsunade-sama isn't much of a morning person anyways.'

Sakura walked into the nearby room of supplies, rummaging through for a test-kit, as well as the possible antidotes that might fix Sasuke's ailment. Sasuke dropped himself into a chair, watching his former teammate disappear behind the door.

Sakura came back quickly enough. Armed with a jar of Q-tips and a few bottles of unknown substances, she sat down next to Sasuke, and began to treat the poisoned area.

The young man only watched quietly. Although he rarely saw Sakura, the slight changes in the girl's appearance and actions did not escape his notice. She looked a little more mysterious, especially with that new dress. Even her eyes appeared a shade darker. Sasuke still remembered the first day when he saw her outfit — shocking, to say the least.

* * *

(( "Sakura-san, that is THE look for you!" Lee exclaimed at Sakura's new outfit. "GREEN POWER!"

A smile lit up the pink-haired girl's face at his compliment. She posed for her small audience.

"Green?" Naruto mumbled. He wondered why Sakura chose that color, of all possible things. Well, it was certainly better camouflage than red. But still, she moved quickly enough...

"What's so wrong with the color green?" Tsunade asked irritably, pushing back the sleeves of her leaf-like overcoat.

"Who cares?" Sasuke scoffed. Inside, his thoughts were in disorder. 'All right, she looks... good. But how much influence did Thick Brows actually have on her?'

Sakura blushed. "I hope you don't mind, Lee-san."

A look of annoyance passed Sasuke's face as she said this. It was as if Sakura did not heed his existence at all. Indeed, she was directly all her attention to Lee.

"I don't mind at all, Sakura-san!" Tears began to wallow in Lee's eyes, before he lifted up her hand, like a knight courting his lady. "I feel so honored! But Sakura-san, would you consider wearing a spandex bodysuit instead of—"

Lee never finished his sentence, as Sasuke gave him a powerful blow to his head.

"Don't even suggest it, Thick Brows." The Uchiha mentally squirmed at the idea of Sakura wearing something so tight and suggestive as a body suit. It was sure to bring her unwanted attention, not only from this bowl-cut freak, but also certain perverts...

"Sasuke, you didn't have to hit Lee-san that hard." Sakura knelt down to lift the taijutsu specialist back up on his feet.

A mischievous grin passed Naruto's face. "I vote that Sakura wears the spandex!" he shouted, raising a hand. Sasuke glared at his teammate, mentally asking him if he were nuts.

"I second that one!" Jiraiya shouted as he pulled out a notebook. He forbade Naruto to wear spandex bodysuits, as they looked terrible on men. But on women — now THAT was a different story. "With all that CLINGING—"

"NO!" Sakura and Tsunade said simultaneously.

A sigh of relief was barely audible from Sasuke's lips following the opinion of the two women. He then looked at Kakashi beside him. Sasuke knew that the masked man was smiling, as his visible eye crinkled with glee — triumph, even. "What are you grinning at?" he snapped.

"You're blushing, Sasuke," the jounin muttered.

A cross look formed on the young Uchiha's face. He turned away. "I'm just pissed off with all this nonsense."

Kakashi was unconvinced. "Uh-huh." ))

* * *

"Yo!"

Sasuke snapped back to the present with Kakashi's voice.

Sakura had already cleaned out and disinfected his wound. She was now painting the scab with antidote. She had such fine technique that he felt no pain.

"Morning, Kakashi-sensei!" chirruped Sakura.

"Good morning, Sakura," the silver-haired jounin greeted. "And you're already taking care of Sasuke's poison; thanks." Kakashi glanced at the sleeping Hokage. He raised an eyebrow. 'I wonder what quirks the other village Kage have.'

Sakura's fingers smoothed out the last piece of medical tape over the gauze. "There, all done," she breathed. She picked up the medical supplies, and shoved them back in their original places in the storage room. "Don't move too often for the next twenty-four hours, go to bed early, and get plenty of vitamin C." She lectured Sasuke as if he were one of the many children she examined for illness. "I'll see you around. Bye!"

Before Sasuke could say anything, her pink hair and green form disappeared around the corner. Sakura could be like the wind in her movements.

Kakashi noticed the dazed look in Sasuke's eyes. "Is there something the matter?" Kakashi asked. He glanced off into the empty hallway.

"Nothing." Sasuke turned around in his chair. "Kakashi, wake her up," he said, indicating Tsunade.

"YOU do it." Kakashi was almost whining.

"I'm not that dumb."

* * *

Sakura went up the stairs of her house. Well, at least things had been cleared up with her parents. After a quick explanation and an apology, Sakura ate breakfast with them before her father went off to work.

Although she was a ninja and could take care of herself, Sakura tried to keep her parents from worrying about her too much. She considered it repayment for her unexcused absence a few years ago, when she supposedly had been kidnapped.

'Well, I was kind of kidnapped,' she reasoned to herself. 'Although, it was something else as well.'

Sakura felt rather guilty with the idea of what she had been doing behind everyone's backs since then. Sure, she was Tsunade's medical apprentice and such, and sometimes did D-ranked missions around the village. She even accepted a few C-ranked ones, going outside Konoha borders. But if they knew the reason why she was continuously failing the Chuunin exams...

At least she had been able to protect most of her teammates. She wasn't Tsunade's protégée for nothing. Even Lee had been helping her out in improving her taijutsu.

But there had been a few unpleasant incidents. The Chuunin exams sponsored by the Iwagakure no Sato — the Hidden Stone Village — was an especially unpleasant experience. Her teammate had been only thirteen. It was his first time taking it. She did not know him that well, and he was two years her junior. But still...

* * *

(( "Breathe!" Sakura hissed. She pushed on the genin's stomach. "Breathe, damn it!"

The teenage boy coughed. A groan escaped him. His hair was obscuring his face. "Haruno-senpai?"

Sakura heaved a sigh of relief. The noxious gas of their most recent enemies seemed to have been weak enough to let Hiroshi survive. The medic-nin pulled out a small container from her supplies, and shook out a tiny pill. She popped the medicine into the boy's slightly open mouth. He swallowed obediently.

"Multi-purpose antidote, made by Hokage-sama herself. It'll clean out the poison your red blood cells might have picked up, and get your muscles moving again." Sakura then turned to a fourteen-year-old girl, the last of the genin team. "Sleep next to him," she ordered quietly. "I'm going to keep watch outside."

"Aren't you tired, Haruno-senpai?" The girl looked terrified at the state of her injured teammate.

Sakura waved it off. "You kept watch last time, Kaoru. You need to rest now; you won't function otherwise. You two can hide here."

The pink-haired girl walked out of the hollowed-out stump of the giant tree. She made a few hand-seals to herself, as soon as she felt no extra chakra was coming from her surroundings.

Sakura breathed. She sat down and rested against the wall of the dead trunk, enjoying the view during her guard-duty. The scenery was gray, a landscape of rocky magnificence. The restricted area near the Hidden Stone Village, indeed.

It was several hours until Sakura made any movement at all from her sitting position.

She glanced to the side. Her hand reached downward to her holster, and lifted up a small kunai by its ringed-end.

The sound of a whip cut through the air. Sakura swung her arm up. A heavy kunai clanged off of her own, and fell to the ground. She stood up, ready for battle.

Three figures rose up from a pile of rocks. Sakura tightened her lips as she studied them. Her opponents were ninja from the Stone Village. Being natives, they knew this rocky terrain better than she did.

"Well, look, we have a pretty lass on our hands," one of the Iwa-nin said in an amused tone.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "So you all show up at once. You're either gutsy or just really cocky."

One of the three shinobi made a few hand-seals, and retreated behind one of the boulders. The last that Sakura saw of him was a melting image.

'He's trying to use genjutsu,' Sakura realized. She then glanced up to meet the incoming forms of the other two ninja. She briefly shut her eyes, startling the two into wondering what her plans were.

Sakura focused: chakra molded through her system. Her emerald eyes shot open.

The kunoichi stopped one of the ninja from stabbing her by blocking his arm with her wrist. She gave a swift jab to his stomach. He winced, giving her time to grab hold of his arm and throw him against his other teammate. Because she put in some chakra in her muscles for extra push, the two went easily flying. Their heads made impact with the boulders.

Oh, yes, there was that third ninja who disappeared only a moment ago.

"OUCH!"

Said third ninja warped into visibility again. He rubbed his forehead. He had been on the verge of sneaking into the hiding hole of the enemy — only to meet a powerful smack in the head.

"You call yourself a genjutsu-user?" Sakura scoffed, readying her kunai.

The ninja's eyes widened as the hole in front of him changed into normal wood. It had been an illusion; the real opening was somewhere else. He dodged a shuriken Sakura threw.

The pink-haired genin ran towards him. 'I have to take him down within two minutes,' Sakura thought. 'No more.'

Sakura drove a kunai into the Iwa-nin's arm. He grimaced in pain. "I gave you time to run away," she said quietly to his face. Her fingers curled around the weapon's handle. "Your comrades are knocked out already."

The ninja smiled in a sinister manner. His female opponent was a merciful one. Typical of a genin from Konoha — the peacefully idiotic village, which was half-obliterated by the doings of one of its own missing-nin.

The ninja lifted up a kunai with his still-movable arm, something Sakura had not expected. Three exploding tags were attacked to the weapon. He threw it towards the hole, where Sakura's younger teammates were still hiding.

Sakura gasped. This man had known the real location of the hole from the start! "Kaoru!" she shouted. "Hiroshi!"

The tags exploded inside the hollow tree. ))

* * *

Kaoru had survived the experience. She quit being a ninja after that. And Hiroshi...

Sakura pushed the memory away. There was blood on her hands. Konoha blood. And seeing what the future held, she might have to do more of it.

Sakura walked over to the closet in her room, and pulled it open. A number of scrolls were jumbled together in a basket in the corner. A few of them were borrowed from the library (she always forgot to return them), some were medical charts Tsunade gave her, others were ninja-manuals, which any competent shinobi kept for references. A few particularly dirty ones were also mixed in.

The pink-haired genin rarely organized the whole bunch. She was not lazy; she did most of her other chores quite well, and the rest of her room was clean. The actual reason she kept them in disarray was that a few of them were valuable. As anybody in law enforcement knew about thievery, robbers hated to take their time to look for valuables. A messy closet was one of the least likely places they would try to raid. If anybody entered her room, she did not want them to steal anything from her collection of scrolls.

Sakura's hands dug in the basket. She yanked out a small, weather-beaten scroll. It looked small and insignificant, but it had a nice history. Oh, how much she had experienced with it.

(( "From now on, I'm your older brother." ))

Sakura blinked. Now why that memory decided to pop out, she was now a bit sad. Of course, she had had nagging suspicions for the past couple of years. Every time she tried to dismiss it as a nostalgic memory, there was always...

The kunoichi walked over to her bed, and sat down on its soft covers. Her hand traced the flap of the scroll, and began to peel it open.

The wind outside began to hum against her window.

Mrs. Haruno opened the door. "Sakura!"

Sakura's hands tightened the scroll back together. The humming outside stopped.

"Oh, Mom!" Sakura played with the hem of her short dress. "You're home early."

"Sakura, the Hokage-sama has an urgent message for you," Mrs. Haruno said. "It's about the next Chuunin exams."

"Yeah, so?" The kunoichi carefully tucked the small scroll under her blanket. "They're supposed to be held in Rain, right?"

Mrs. Haruno shrugged. "Well, it seems like that village is too busy for holding it. To be quite frank, their daimyō is fighting a rebellion in the country, and they have no choice but to help out."

"Oh." Sakura pondered about it. Then her mind clicked. "That would mean that the Chuunin Exams fall upon Konoha this year..."

Her mother nodded.

An annoyed look suddenly crossed Sakura's visage. "Damn!" Sakura exclaimed, almost in a wail. "I don't need to go through the Forest of Death again; it's so unnecessary, and —"

Sakura caught her tongue. Complaining did not help the situation; she had to act a little more mature. Neither did she want her mother to suspect anything strange. The kunoichi smoothed the ends of her green shirt.

Sakura huffed. "Oh, well. I guess it won't be too bad."

"That's not the whole story, Sakura." Mrs. Haruno seemed to be bursting with excitement, although there was also a touch of worry and nervousness in her eyes. "The Hokage wants to know whether you'd be up to working with foreign ninja in your three-man cell for the exam."

It took a while for Sakura to digest the information. "Can I do that?" She bit her lower lip. "Is that even LEGAL?"

"The Kage are trying to revive a tradition that used to take place every decade or so. A three-man cell is put together, each ninja from a different village. It is the closest thing to an international effort that ninja do on a public basis." Mrs. Haruno put a finger to her chin. "I participated in it once. I had to work with ninja from Cloud and Grass." She saw her pink-haired daughter cross her arms in thought.

Sakura calculated the matter. She did not mind working with foreign ninja, as long as they were capable. But were they trustworthy? When the Leaf held the exams four years ago in honor of a peace treaty, it ended up with a half-destroyed village — not to mention, the assassinations of the Kazekage and the Hokage. The very idea of working with shinobi outside of Konoha had risk stamped all over it.

"Please consider it, Sakura," Mrs. Haruno said. "I'm not forcing you, but it is certainly a great honor. The fact that the Hokage asked you means that she thinks you're strong enough. ...Besides, You wouldn't be the only mixed group. The officials plan to have at least five of them entered."

Sakura breathed. "I'll have to think about it."

* * *

Notes:

"miko" - Shinto priestess. They are daughters of priests or local residents, performing minor duties of a shrine, as well as participate in ceremonial dances for the kaki. They are not vestal virgins, by the way. When they marry, their positions are taken up by other girls.

"senpai" / "sempai" - means 'upperclassman', used in an address towards one's older or more experienced colleagues in a field of study or work.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	3. What the Eyes See

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Japanese spelling note: although I found a way to put lengthening signs on vowels for Japanese words, most people seem to be comfortable seeing the doubling of vowels as a signal for lengthening, such as "Hyuuga." The exceptions that will escape this rule will be Japanese words that have already established themselves in the English language, usually words to do with feudalism or martial arts. Even though I know it's pronounced more like "daimyou", it will be spelled "daimyō," just because English-speakers know exactly what the latter is.

x

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

-Writing-

(( Flashback ))

x

Chapter 3: What the Eyes See

* * *

Hinata rolled over. She felt a warm futon tucked over her.

The girl sat up. Her eyes dropped down at herself. She was dressed in a simple white kimono under the covers. The girl momentarily blushed. 'Did someone change me?'

She decided to scan her surroundings with her Byakugan. The veins rose around her eyes.

From what Hinata could tell, she was in the living quarters of a Shinto shrine. There were miko walking around, nursing and administering medicine to wounded people.

Hinata immediately recognized the patients as her teammates on the mission. Her heart sank when she counted only half of the total. 'Of course. That snake. It came so quickly, and...'

Hinata's eyes found a short form amidst the hustle of the people.

A little child walked in the hallway. He looked no more than four years old. He had a small kimono that went only mid-thigh, as if he were a peasant from the olden days. His black hair went past his ears and over his neck, shabby and unkempt. Dark bags hung underneath his eyes.

None of the priestesses walking in the hallways seemed to notice the boy's presence. They were quite busy, but Hinata thought it outrageous that they simply breezed past the boy, as if he did not exist. He looked so cold and famished; his skin was almost gray.

Hinata, ever the concerned one, decided to scan him to see his physical condition. He probably did not have his chakra developed. Usually it was only priests, magicians, and powerful martial artists such as ninja who possessed significant aura. But all living things always had a tiny bit of it flowing in them.

'Focus on the boy,' Hinata thought. 'Byakugan!'

Hinata's vision jolted forward, closer and closer to the child. Soon, she zoomed in on his heart, the most vital area. If she could see exactly how much he had there, she would know...

He definitely had something of aura — more controlled than the average child, in fact. Yet what was strange to Hinata was that this boy did not seem to possess chakra arteries in his body. His small frame was a mere outline of dim light. The Hyuuga had never seen anything like it before. It was as bizarre as looking into a body to find no organs.

The boy walked towards a closed door. He did not even make the effort to reach up for the hollow in the door to slide it open; it was as if he had a visual impediment.

It was to Hinata's great surprise that the child stepped through the closed door. His light-gray aura was momentarily disturbed, but his form moved through the door like flour through a sifter — temporarily set back, but coming out more fluid than ever.

He raised his head. Under the dirty bangs of hair, Hinata saw the dark-brown depths of his eyes.

A chill went down her spine. It did not matter that there were walls, sliding doors, and numerous people between the two of them. Hinata somehow could tell that this boy _knew_ that she could see him.

Hinata found herself stiff with fear. The transparent being was striding through the walls towards her room. She reached her ninja gear next to the bed. Panicking, Hinata drew out a kunai, and held it defensively in front of her.

The girl then realized what she was doing. First of all, would a kunai really work on something like this boy? He did not even have a physical body. If anything, it was Jyuuken that would work against anything that had only ki holding it up.

And secondly, what was she doing, raising a weapon against a child? Only a heartless person did something like that.

The kunai dropped from her hands. Hinata slowly stood up from the futon mattress. She decided that if it were a ghost coming to claim her soul, then she would do what she could to fight it. And if it were the gods' will that she should die...

The dirty-looking boy stepped through the wall into her room. Hinata held her breath.

The child got down on his knees. His hands went down on the tatami mat as support, and the boy lowered his head to the level of Hinata's feet, in the traditional position of humility.

He looked up to Hinata with a smile on his face. "Pleased to meet you. My name is Zashiki Warashi."

* * *

Naruto paced in the hallway. "Oh, damn it, damn it, damn it..."

"Stop it, will you?" Sasuke nearly sounded irritable. "You'll make a hole in the ground."

"Hinata's team was attacked, and half of them died!" Naruto exclaimed. He grasped his hair in worry. His intake of air was quick, irregular. "We don't even know she's okay! All they gave us were numbers; why didn't they at least give us a list of names?"

Sasuke's face was cryptic. "You can't expect that in a short span of time. We don't know even if they're sick or dying."

"All we know for sure is that they're BED-RIDDEN!" the fox-boy corrected Sasuke in a snarling voice. "Why do you have to be so fuckin' insensitive, you bastard!"

"I'm not insensitive; I'm just giving you the facts," his raven-haired companion said. 'What does he expect me to be, his therapist?' Sasuke grumbled inside.

Naruto gave a shout of frustration. Sasuke was no help whatsoever. "Shit, I think I'm going to be crazy if they don't bring out more information. Damn, she can't be dead!"

"Calm down," Sasuke repeated. He crossed his arms. "Mumbling around like an idiot won't change whatever happened." He paused in thought, then added, "Although you are an idiot."

"Piss off!" Naruto snapped. He fell into a chair, and slumped forward. The boy's face fell within his crumpling hands. 'Hinata-chan...'

An incoherent noise emitted from Naruto's form.

Sasuke blinked. Was Naruto... crying? Something akin to panic rose in his brain. 'Damn it! How can the moron do this in front of me — damn him!'

Sasuke groaned. He walked over to his best friend's shaking form. His hand awkwardly patted Naruto's shoulders. Two thumps should be enough, he decided. "There's still hope, idiot. You don't need to worry so much."

A pink-haired genin stepped into the hallway. "Sasuke, you're terrible at that," Sakura said. "Stop it."

Sasuke felt a lump form in his throat as she walked over.

Sakura knelt down to Naruto's form. "Naruto, I heard what happened. Don't worry. I'm pretty sure Hinata's fine." She muzzled up his blonde hair with her hand. "She's a Hyuuga."

Naruto awkwardly wiped his eyes. He felt the kunoichi's warm arms squeeze around his shoulders. "Thanks, Sakura-chan."

Naruto was grateful for her presence. The blond gave up his crush on Sakura a long time ago, but he still thought of her as a good friend. She was a hell of a lot better than Sasuke when it came to emotional things.

Naruto sniffed. "Aren't you gonna bonk me on the head or something?"

The medic-nin grinned. "That's only if you say or do something stupid." She pulled away from him. "You _are_ doing something kind of stupid, but only because you're a sensitive gentleman."

Naruto seemed deep in thought. "Hmm."

Sasuke frowned at the look Naruto was giving Sakura. He knew that the two were just very good friends. But still, he couldn't help but worry that...

"Sakura-chan, would you mind me asking what bra-size you wear?" Naruto blurted out. He was only wondering, especially right after she hugged him. And she was his best female friend — surely, Naruto thought, he could take liberties like this!

A loud thwack and the crash of furniture rang in Sasuke's ears.

Naruto and chair sprawled on the floor.

"Naruto, you pervert! You've learned too much from Jiraiya!" Sakura shouted. The girl heaved, her face red with anger and embarrassment. She should have known that Naruto could not suppress his teenage curiosities. The kunoichi grasped the front of her green shirt, wondering how much her blond friend felt what was underneath it.

Sasuke felt oddly satisfied, seeing his rival with a lump on his head. 'Hell, he deserved that,' the Uchiha thought.

Sakura coughed. She leaned into Naruto. "If you must know," she whispered in his ears, "I'm a B-cup."

Sasuke felt some nerves jolt in him with those words. It was convenient for him as a ninja that Orochimaru had taught him listening skills — but for the moment, he somewhat wished that he hadn't. Sasuke had no idea what made him react like that, but he knew it meant trouble. Little did the avenger know that his suppressed hormones were coming back at him, with a dear vengeance of their own.

A foreign voice popped in his head. 'She's a B-cup? She's absolutely _perfect_!'

Sasuke twitched.

Sakura was oblivious to the drastic change in the raven-haired ninja — he indeed hid it well. "Anyways," she continued to lecture Naruto in a loud voice, "You're good boyfriend material, so keep it up! Just because you were tutored by Jiraiya doesn't mean you have to lower yourself to his level." She then shot her face towards Sasuke. Her green eyes flashed at his intent black orbs. "And I don't know what Orochimaru might have taught _you_," she snapped at the young Uchiha, "but it better not involve maces or innocent little children!"

Sasuke nearly fell over at this statement. A wisp of red brushed his cheeks. "Who... who do you think I _am_?" he demanded angrily.

"A former apprentice of Orochimaru," Sakura retorted. "Who knows what he taught you!" Her pink lips curled into an evil smirk. 'I _can _insult you, Human Icicle. So there!'

Naruto was now laughing his head off.

"What's going on here?" The Hokage walked in the hallway. She carried Tonton in her arms.

Naruto choked, grinning. "Tsunade-no-baachan... Nothing, we were just talking." He giggled with a hand over his mouth, the corners of his wide smile showing brightly on each side. "But I found out that Sasuke's growing into a _pervert_!"

The dark ninja planted a fist on top of Naruto's head. The blond teenager's forehead, yet again, met the rough touch of the floor.

Tonton jumped from Tsunade's arms and trotted up to Sakura, snorting for some petting. The pink-haired girl stroked the pig's ears. "Hi there, Tonton."

"We want to know the state of the extended team, in which Hyuuga Hinata was." Sasuke told Tsunade, as he pointed a finger at the twitching body of Naruto. "_He's _being an imbecile about it."

"That information is classified," Tsunade said crisply. "I sent out a few messengers." Her heels clicked as she passed the three ninja. "Sakura, I expect you to work in short time. We'll be needing the entire medical team; Hinata's group wasn't the only one affected."

Sakura gave a slight bow of the head. "Yes, Shishou."

Sakura carefully looked up. The girl noticed a few pieces of paper tucked together on Tsunade's clipboard. 'Is that the classified information?' the young medic-nin wondered.

A gust of wind blew through the windows. The clipboard's top flap of notes briefly lifted upward.

Sakura's vision caught what was on the second page: a picture of a three-eyed snake, painted fresh with black ink.

Tsunade's hand violently slammed the notes back together. "Damn wind," the Hokage muttered.

Sakura's green eyes seemed blank as she stared after her teacher. More specifically, the clipboard.

"You look pale."

Sakura jolted from the voice. She turned her head — she realized that it had been Sasuke talking to her. The kunoichi laughed sheepishly. "I think I haven't been getting enough sleep lately," she said. "I'll be fine."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. 'What's with her?'

* * *

Hinata rubbed her eyes. She wondered if her Byakugan was screwing around with her mind. Then again, she heard the boy talk.

"You're Zashiki Warashi?" Hinata asked, baffled. She sat back down on the futon. "_The_ Zashiki Warashi? I thought you were only a myth."

The boy grinned as he stepped on the blanket and sat down, leveling himself to Hinata.

"I'm real," his voice echoed. He pocked at himself. "Well, not as real as you might want. I am a ghost, after all." Warashi stretched out his arm towards Hinata. "Here, try to touch my hand. Don't be afraid. The sensation might be a little weird at first, but it won't hurt."

The girl hesitantly reached out. She sensed no malevolent vibes from the boy. Hinata's slender fingers came towards the child's hand.

Her hand passed through the image. Nothing but coolish air washed over her palm. Zashiki Warashi — his presence was almost too real.

"What's your name?" Warashi asked.

Hinata realized that in her stupor, she had forgotten to introduce herself. "Oh! I'm Hyuuga Hinata." She bowed to him. "I'm pleased to meet you, Zashiki Warashi-san."

"Warashi is just fine," the boy chirped. "Pleased to meet you, Hinata-neechan!"

Hinata was slightly surprised with this address. "Why are you calling me that?" she asked. "You existed in folklore before I was even born. You must be years older than me."

"I want to call you that. May I?" Warashi pleaded. For a ghost, Hinata noted, he sure could pull off a cute face. She nodded. "Good, Hinata-neechan!"

By now, the blue-haired girl's fingers were doing the old habit of twiddling. This was just like meeting a celebrity. "Aren't only very young children supposed to see you, Warashi?" Hinata asked timidly. "The stories I heard..."

"People see me only when I want them to," Warashi answered. He scratched his black, shaggy mane. "Only kids seem to be normal when I show up. Adults usually babble until they faint, or something. Technically, anybody can see me if I will myself to be visible." Zashiki Warashi looked up at Hinata. "You're one of the exceptions, though. Kokoro no Miko — Priestess of Souls."

Hinata blinked. She looked behind her, wondering whom Warashi addressed. Was there someone else in the room she didn't notice?

The age-old ghost pouted. "I was talking to you, Hinata-neechan," he whined, sounding like the child he looked like.

"Huh?" A confused look passed Hinata. She pointed at herself. "...Me?"

The ghost nodded.

Hinata smiled weakly. "Oh, no. You must be mistaken, Warashi. I'm a kunoichi by profession, not a miko."

"The priest's apprentice who dropped you and your friends here said you were something special," the boy said. "And he was right. You can see me!"

"The Byakugan is a trait of the Hyuuga clan, a ninja clan," the human girl insisted. "I am able to see you, but I'm sure that my relatives could—"

"You're part of the Hyuuga?" Warashi suddenly asked. He crossed his arms and harrumphed. "Is Hyuuga Hiashi still alive?"

"Um... He's my father... and yes, he's still alive," said Hinata.

The kid grumbled. He had many a nasty thing to say about the old stiff — but he refrained from saying them to the man's own daughter. "Well, Hinata-neechan, let me tell you: I've been around Konoha a few times, and none of the Hyuuga spotted _me_. Or any other ninja with doujutsu in their eyes."

The girl blinked. "But you have chakra emitting from your body — I mean from your... uh... But I can see you!" She was grappling for excuses. "And the priestesses of this shrine didn't see you!"

"I don't emit chakra; I only emit spiritual energy!" Warashi corrected. "Chakra is the combination of spiritual energy and physical energy, right? I am _severely_ deficient in the latter. And the miko can't see me, because they're too preoccupied with helping your teammates." He huffed. "Sure, if I were standing right in front of a Hyuuga, they might find a tiny veil of _something_. They would at least wonder why there is a spot of cold air for no reason. But they certainly wouldn't be able to see me as a person, unless I cast a visibility spell on myself."

The little ghost looked up to the kunoichi. "But you, Hinata-neechan, can see me fully on your own will. I think your Byakugan eyes are receiving a boost of holy ki."

"Holy ki?" Hinata touched the area around her eyes. That was odd: the prominent veins in the Byakugan mode were not there, especially when Hinata had never decided to turn the ability off in the first place.

Hinata ran to the nearest mirror, and looked at herself. "Oh gods, my eyes!"

The white orbs with the slightest hint of pupils, a characteristic of active Byakugan, remained. Yet no pulsing veins were around her upper cheeks; her skin was completely smooth. 'It's like... I have half of it on!' she thought. 'White eyes, yet no veins!'

"Don't worry, that just comes with being a Priestess of Souls," Warashi said. "You should feel honored. We haven't had something like that in nearly... five centuries. Mind you, the last one didn't have the Byakugan. But the gods must have decided to give you the extra ability. No wonder; you have a pure heart."

"How do you deactivate this?" peeped Hinata. She was kind of happy of a gift that allowed her to see ghosts — especially when it came to good spirits such as Zashiki Warashi — but what would her father say? Was she going to look white-eyed for the rest of her life? She happened to like the soft lavender of her eyes when they were normal.

"Um... Maybe you should just order them to turn off," Warashi said. "Don't put so much chakra in your eyes."

"Oh...okay," Hinata said, trembling. She closed her eyes, and carefully controlled the aura flowing through her body. She looked at her reflection again in the mirror — she was relieved to find the soft, creamy purple come back.

Hinata noticed that Warashi disappeared from her vision. She willed her eyes to switch back into the special ability. The ghost again appeared.

"This is... kind of nice," Hinata mumbled.

Warashi got himself up. "Anyways, I really have to get going."

"You're leaving?" Hinata grew slightly worried. Stories said that when Zashiki Warashi abandoned the house in which he lived, a large calamity would befall the place. "What about this building? It needs your protection! My teammates are still being nursed, and we can't have—"

"Don't worry; the place won't catch fire just because I leave after a short visit!" The ghost sharply laughed. "It's cool that you know so much about me, but I have to scout the area. Besides, this shrine wasn't my home in the first place. I have no home."

"Oh." Hinata gulped as she looked down. "I'm sorry, Warashi," she quietly apologized.

The ghost waved it away. "It's okay, Hinata-neechan. It's spiffy that you're so protective of your friends." He got up, and brushed himself off. "Oh, and I'm gonna be appearing to you now and then. If any supernatural trouble comes up, I'll be there to guide you!"

The ghost's feet skipped across the tatami mats, and his misty form disappeared through the paper windows.

The girl blinked. Did Warashi just say 'supernatural trouble'?

"Wait, Warashi, what do you mean?" Hinata followed the ghost's trail, up to the window he passed. She skidded to a halt, lest she accidentally hit expensive and fragile paper-screens. She slid one window open.

A forest met her eyes outside the shrine. Hinata looked down: she was on the second story. Zashiki Warashi was nowhere to be seen, even with her advanced vision.

'Is he okay? Well, he is a ghost, after all...'

* * *

Sakura walked the alley. A chill brushed her cheeks and arms. 'Damn. I love kids, but the children of that merchant are spoiled little BRATS!'

Thankfully, she had been able to pacify them by slipping a bit of 'medicine' into their evening milk. Nobody needed to know that the substance was known publicly as sake. Sure, it was slightly illegal. But Tsunade taught her that trick in the medical ward. If it was good enough for the Hokage, then it was good enough for her.

(( "Tsunade-sama, are you _sure_ about this?" Sakura's left hand had a baby bottle full of milk, and the right hand held a gourd full of amazake — sweet sake.

"It's the absolute last resort for perfectly healthy — yet bratty and irritable — kids," Tsunade said, holding a screaming baby.

Sakura gently shook the gourd, eyeing its rim. "I was asking if this was hygienic," she intoned. "You didn't drink it straight; did you?"

"Don't worry! The alcohol content makes it free of germs! Only half a teaspoon in the milk. He'll conk out within half an hour." ))

"Absolute last resort all right," Sakura muttered, rubbing her shoulder.

The kunoichi halted in her steps. She heard snickering behind her.

'Great, not again,' she thought. There had been a few times when teenage boys hanging out in the night would see her, and guess that she was available — or even worse, think that she was a prostitute. True, Sakura was lonely now and then, but she was not _that_ desperate.

A nervous breath of air escaped Sakura's mouth. From what little chakra she felt, it was just one person following her. But from the clumsy scraping of sandals, and the slight bursts of aura — it was probably a ninja. This would be difficult for her. He seemed to be a little impaled with alcohol, but he was still a shinobi of Konoha.

"Hey, beautiful," the man slurred from the shadows.

Sakura said nothing, continuing to walk. She quickened her step. His form blurred behind her.

Sakura molded chakra through her system. Her eyes caught the trashcans nearby, and she smirked as her hands performed the seals.

The man blinked as he reached over. There was a trashcan where the girl recently had been. 'She used the Kawarimi no Jutsu with a trashcan? Not bad.'

"I'm up here."

Sakura dropped an axe-kick on top of the chuunin's head. 'Damn, I have to knock him unconscious; I can't just kill him!' Sakura calculated. 'And genjutsu might not work because he's looks drunk; alcohol impairs the senses, sometimes making chakra flow irregular.'

He whined, clutching his head. "Owww! Jeez, what was that for?" He had hoped to sneak up and hug her, but she was sharp.

"For trying to pounce on me," Sakura said. The girl then realized her opponent's eyes were clear, not glazed. What Sakura had judged as slurred speech on his part was really only a faked-out accent. "Hey, you're not drunk at all."

The chuunin sputtered. "Well duh! It doesn't feel as good if you're smashed!" He forced out a smile, hoping to calm the little vixen. "You're pretty. Wanna have a night of fun? C'mon."

"Oh, shut it," Sakura said, turning around and walking away. "I can't believe a moron like you has the nerve—"

"Hey, I asked nicely, okay?" the guy retorted. "Geez, it's so hard to find girls, even when one's a chuunin. Pretty please?"

"I don't even know you," Sakura said tartly. "And I've had a crappy day, so BACK OFF!"

Sakura did not see the chuunin's face darken. But she certainly could feel the drastic increase of chakra in his system. He was trying to grab her, or even worse.

The kunoichi had had enough. Her hands performed the sequence. She turned around, prepared to release the jutsu. In just one second, he would be screaming, begging for his life to be spared. Blood would cover everything, the image of his own death soaking his...

'Kanashibari no —'

She then stopped. A dark form lingered in the dim streetlight. Uchiha Sasuke held the knocked-out man by the scruff of his neck.

The pink-haired kunoichi dropped her arms, causing the illusionary spell to fizzle out of her arms. "Oh... Thank you, Sasuke." Sakura looked away. "Although I could have handled him myself."

Sasuke let his unconscious colleague fall face-first onto the asphalt. He walked over to Sakura. "Are you alright?" he asked. "Did he do anything?"

The girl blinked. Was it her imagination, or did Sasuke seem worried about her?

"Sakura," Sasuke breathed, "what was that jutsu you tried to put on him?"

'I knew it.' Sakura rolled her eyes. 'He just wants to add something to his collection of jutsu with his Sharingan. Well, _too bad _if he didn't have those rinky-dink eyes turned on when I performed its seals!'

The pink-haired girl did not feel like talking to anybody at the moment, especially not Sasuke. She decided to be civil, and simply walk away. "Good night."

His voice held a warning tone. "Sakura."

The kunoichi continued to walk down the street. "Look, Sasuke," she began, her sandaled feet brushing the paved stone, "I'm very tired, and not in the best mood, so please—"

Her sentence trailed off into a sudden gasp. Her former teammate had appeared in front of her. Sasuke had used chakra in his system to jump in front of her and block her path.

The proximity between them was too close for comfort.

Sasuke's dark eyes were serious. "Sakura. I know what jutsu that was. Orochimaru did it on us in the Forest of Death, after all." He saw her bite her lower lip. "Where did you learn it?" His interrogation was light, but notably cold. "And were so angry at this —" Sasuke glanced at the unconscious chuunin, who looked at least five years his senior, "—_idiot_, as to put the same thing on him?"

The pink-haired girl avoided his eyes. "I focus on genjutsu and taijutsu," she said simply. "You know most medic-nin do that to defend themselves."

"The Kanashibari is nearly forbidden," Sasuke stated. "It's not like you to use it in the streets."

Something akin to shame welled up in Sakura. With the slightest will on the Uchiha's part, it seemed like he could see through everything. It was so frustrating that it made her want to cry. Couldn't he just leave her in peace?

"Sakura, is there anything wrong?" Sasuke's voice held a touch of worry, although it was barely discernable.

A long silence passed. Sakura began to tremble for a reason unknown to her. Why was she suddenly frightened of his gentle behavior? He was a friend, after all. And wasn't she the one who had wished that he would treat her a bit nicer?

No, she decided. That was the Sakura from four years ago. The naïve little girl, whom Sasuke coldly knocked out and left four years ago, did not exist in this time.

Sakura gulped down. "Thank you for your concern, Sasuke," she said in a forced whisper. "I'm fine, though. Good night."

The kunoichi charged up aura into her legs, and ran off.

Sasuke's fists tightened. So much for Kakashi's advice on showing a little bit of concern. The intense fear from the pink-haired girl, the look of panic in her eyes, had made him feel strangely hollow.

* * *

Two figures watched from above in the trees.

A petite girl with bobbed, purple hair giggled as her legs dangled over a branch. She lifted up her face, revealing yellow eyes with cat-like pupils. "It seems like Sacchan despises him."

The blond man next to her sighed. A sad look passed his face as he watched Sakura run off. "It seems so."

"Why are you dressed like that, anyway?" the girl asked. She examined the Shinto robes her blond companion wore.

"For the past two years, I've been studying here," he said. "Since the religion here is not much different from that of my own people, and the priest saw that I was sent, it was quite easy to adapt."

"No fair!" she whined. Her yellow cat-eyes danced with unholy brightness, something of a demonic aura bubbling within. "But I'll make the best of this trip. A foreign exchange program!"

"A dimensional exchange program would be a more accurate term." The blond man smirked. 'Don't worry, Sakura-san. I think you'll have your mind occupied by other things quite soon.'

* * *

Notes:

Zashiki Warashi - "zashiki" means 'parlor' or 'room', and "warashi" is archaic for 'child'. This is a household deity or ghost of Japanese northeastern lore, whose appearance is that of a child with shaggy hair and a red face. Although a few stories say that he (or she) plays tricks, what is more important is that the ghost plays with the neighborhood children in good nature and protects them. If the spirit leaves the house it dwells in, the house usually suffers some great misfortune like fire.

"nee-chan" - "ane" means 'older sister', so "nee-chan" is an affectionate term for an older sister. A more respectful form would be "onee-chan", or even better, "onee-san". (For "older brother", the noun is 'ani', so the addressing can range from 'nii-chan' like Konohamaru calls Naruto 'Naruto-niichan' 'onii-chan', or 'nii-san' like Sasuke used to call Itachi until the Uchiha massacre. There's also 'aniki', which has a rough tone to it.)

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	4. Threats

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

I am sorry if this disappoints the readers, but I might not be as fast as I was in "Dimensional Exchanges." It's just that my grades come before writing fanfiction. (I'm taking a January-term course now: Intensive Beginner's Latin.)

Plus, the average of words in this fic is a lot larger than DE, so it takes a bit more time. I'm writing this to improve my writing skills. This is just for fun.

x

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

-Writing-

x

Chapter 4: Threats and Attacks

* * *

A cloud of dust burst forth in front of the shrine. "Hinataaaa!"

A muffled squeak sounded out from Hinata as she found herself squeezed by none other than Uzumaki Naruto. The Byakugan-user had known he was running towards her — but she had not expected such a tight embrace from him. She was nearly winded in his grasp.

'Damn, I was so worried.' The young man's nose touched close to her ear, burrowing into her dark-blue hair. 'And her hair smells like flowers...'

Hinata's face burned crimson. She and Naruto had only been on casual dates for a few weeks. They had been doing things together as friends for a longer time, but even now there was nothing serious. Or at least, it was supposed to be nothing serious.

"Na-Naruto-kun, you don't have to worry about me so much," she whispered.

Many people were staring at Naruto's public display of affection.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata repeated, this time in a more urgent manner, "if anybody sees us like this and reports it to my father, wrong ideas might — eep!"

Hinata never got a chance to finish her sentence, for Naruto had lifted her up by the waist and spun her around in the air. "Who cares what he thinks?" Naruto laughed. "If anything, your father should be glad you're safe! _I_ sure am!" He set her right back down. A mischevious, fox-like grin spread on his face, which made him incredibly handsome in Hinata's opinion.

Embarrassed with the attention, Hinata turned her face away to avoid looking directly in his wonderful blue eyes. As she turned her head, she saw a few priestesses nearby give her sly looks, as if calling 'You go girl!' to her. Hinata shook her head vigorously in denial.

Yes, Hinata loved Naruto's company. But right now he was embarrassing himself in the shrine area. If he kept up this pace of gleeful shouting, he'd probably get thrown out for disturbing the peace. That would erase all the romanticism; he needed to calm down.

"Um, Naruto-kun, there's a pond I want you to see," the kunichi said quietly, tugging on his sleeve. "You should see it... It's really beautiful."

"Of course!"

Naruto allowed Hinata to pull him around the building, and lead him towards a simple pond. A small, red bridge complemented the water and the green lily pads. The pair walked on the wooden structure.

"Hey, look!" Naruto pointed at the water. Two carp lazily swam underneath them. "They're pretty, don't you think?" Of course, he thought in his mind, they couldn't really compare with the young lady next to him.

Hinata stepped up, and leaned over the bridge. The fish in the pond, white carp with red spots, were indeed beautiful. In their own slow, floating way, they added a bit of graceful motion to the still garden.

Hinata noticed how close by Naruto was. But as heartwarming as it was, she felt something amiss. Only moments ago, he had displayed loud enthusiasm. It was so awkward, at least in Hinata's own mind, to see him so quiet now.

She still had the crush she had on him years ago in the Ninja Academy. And it only seemed to grow over time, even when he had been gone on his training trip with Jiraiya. Yes, there were many nice boys in Konohagakure, but few of them were as mature as Naruto in qualities such as courage, honesty, and determination.

Hinata knew that Naruto now considered her a close friend — they had been doing small things like training in the morning, and eating lunch together. He even took it upon himself to ask (well, more like volunteer) to accompany her to public events.

* * *

(( "Hinata, are ya' going to the summer festival?"

Hinata gulped. "Uh, um... No, not this year."

Naruto blinked. "Why not?" He crept up to her, raising hanging hands like a ghost. "It's gonna be fun! There's even going to be a walk through the graveyard..." He made an impression of a ghoul's face. However well-intended, it was a poor attempt; he looked more like a clown than a monster.

Hinata giggled a bit. "No. I'm not going because... I really don't feel like it. I'd feel alone in the crowd."

It was a depressing afterthought that it probably would not make much difference in her happiness, whether she went or not. She also felt alone in the Hyuuga estate. The festival might be a good change for her — but she would be scolded by the family if she tried to go by herself.

"Alone in the crowd?" said Naruto.

Hinata rubbed her face. She gave a weak smile. "I'm sorry. I guess that sounds odd."

Naruto shook his head. "No. It doesn't sound odd at all." He seemed to recognize the look in Hinata's pale, lavender eyes. It was by far not the terror she had shown when Neji had publicly interrogated her, but it was the same insecurity, the same sadness.

Hinata realized that Naruto was calculating on her predicament. And it was embarrassing: the reason why she was not attending was that nobody had asked her accompaniment, not even as a friend. And Hinata certainly could not go to the festival on her own. Her family watched over her like a hawk. Naruto was much more free in this matter than she was. And Hinata would never ask for an escort from the family — the last thing she wanted to do was to put extra obligation onto a relative, just because she was part of the main family. It was some sort of obsession of Hinata, not to cause others trouble.

What Naruto suggested next was both relieving and shocking to Hinata.

"Hinata... could you come with me to the festival?" ))

* * *

Hinata smiled weakly at the memory. That had been one of the most wonderful festivals she had ever attended. The graveyard walk was not really a bore as she had expected. Sure, she knew exactly what would pop up when and where, the Byakugan-user she was, but Naruto kept holding her hand, just in case she felt queasy with the crazy props of fake, severed heads and the pale costumes of volunteers posing as gouls. Holding his hand, she remembered, had made her feel a lot warmer than the chill that a horror-stroll was intended to bring in the hot and humid summer.

Now, the girl swallowed with a dry throat. Some part of her was scared. She was scared that she and Naruto would just remain friends. The boy was so honest to people; bluntly at times. Sure, she could give that extra push by telling him her true feelings. But what if he did not want that? Hinata did not want to gamble their friendship for something that was only a possibility.

She would never know if she did not try. In a burst of courage, Hinata scooted up next to Naruto, and leaned her head on his shoulder.

Naruto tensed at the gesture — but it was only for a split-second. The youth relaxed, and placed his arm comfortably around Hinata. This made the girl snuggle closer to him in bliss.

Then Naruto remembered why he was here in the first place. He gulped. Well, Tsunade did him a favor by putting him on the backup team, so he might as well not let it go to waste. Naruto neared his mouth towards Hinata's ear. He had been trying to do this for weeks, but he never worked up the nerve. Now it seemed like it was bursting out of him.

"Hinata, I want to ask you something," he whispered. "Is it okay if... um..."

Hinata glanced up at Naruto. "Yes, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto stared in Hinata's pale lavender eyes. Good God, he could look in them forever. He had to ask her if he could, just _possibly,_ have the honor of being called her boyfriend. Right here and right now.

Naruto knew perfectly well that speaking was not too complicated a task in itself. It was plainly obvious how he felt about Hinata. He could barely sleep in recent days because of the recent attack on her squad. So why didn't the words come out?

"Hinata-chan." He swallowed to clear his throat. "Is it okay if you become my girlfriend? Officially?"

He felt Hinata stiffen on his shoulder with the word _girlfriend_.

Naruto's heart began to sink with the awkward silence. He should have known. It was ridiculous in a social perspective. He and Hinata had only been training, eating lunch, and other small things together in a platonic manner. Because of their schedules as select chuunin, and Naruto studying with Sasuke for promotion, he barely saw Hinata anymore. The Hyuuga heiress, be _his_ girlfriend? Bah!

Naruto swallowed the pain. Even when he was going on seventeen, there were times when he wanted to cry. "...I mean, I understand perfectly if you..."

This time around, Naruto found himself in a tight embrace.

The blond chuunin was totally confused. "Hinata-chan?" Naruto couldn't see her face: it was hidden within his shirt.

A high-pitched and muffled sound came out from the dark-haired kunoichi, along the lines of "mmmpf."

Naruto blinked. "What?"

She looked up. "Yes!" Hinata said breathlessly. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes shone. A mixture of happiness, embarrassment, and disbelief brightened her smile. "I...I... would love to be your girlfriend, Naruto-kun."

It was Naruto's turn to color. "Really?" he squeaked, rivaling the voice of his newly-made girlfriend.

"Really!" Hinata repeated, now more loudly than ever. Her arms squeezed around him in a tender hug.

One of her hands trailed up Naruto's well-built torso, and then hesitantly touched his reddening cheek.

Naruto's blue eyes shot open at what Hinata did next.

* * *

Sasuke crossed his arms. He sat on the ground, his back leaning against a boulder. Why did Naruto have to take so long?

It was not his fault that Naruto had been silent on needing 'alone' time with Hinata. In Sasuke's personal and professional opinion, this was a retrieval mission of wounded shinobi — nothing else. His hyperactive teammate and the Hyuuga heiress could have done their business once they got back to Konohagakure. But no: Naruto, after experiencing the slightest possibility that Hinata could have died, was too antsy to find her, and then do his official confession and all that.

Luckily, Sakura had recognized earlier just what Naruto's nervous gait (and maddening dash) towards the shrine had meant. Before Sasuke could walk in to ruin the moment with his stiff demeanor, the kunoichi had managed to stop him. Actually, 'stop' was a lighter term — it was more like Sakura grasped the back of Sasuke's shirt, and gave him a world-class lurch of the neck.

Sakura observed the dark-haired ninja brooding on the steps of the temple. "Are you still mad that I yanked your collar?"

Sasuke did not answer. He had rebuilt his tough exterior towards Sakura. A small part of his pride had been wounded when she slighted him the previous evening. He also did not want her to worry about him. Well, maybe a little bit, but still...

Sakura sighed. Well, if there was a time to say it, it was now. "If you want to know about the Kanashibari: I learned it from my dad."

Sasuke digested this sudden information. He looked up, and noticed that she was not directly looking at him.

"Thank you for saving me from that creep." A faint smile traced Sakura's lips. "I was angry and stupid last night, I'm sorry. You're a good friend, Sasuke."

Sasuke nearly snorted in bitterness with that last comment. He did not deserve to be called a friend, much less a good one. Yet he felt a sort of relief that she considered him as such.

"Well, I guess I have no reason to stay here," Sakura said. "See you later." She went in the opposite direction, towards the living quarters of the shrine.

Sasuke similarly got up. He decided that Naruto had to be done with... whatever he was doing. The dark-haired chuunin walked around the boulder, and through the garden towards the pond.

And then he saw Naruto and Hinata — oh gods — kissing. It was rather revolting to the stoic Uchiha. One simply did not have a make-out session in a public shrine (even though very few people were around at this time of day). Plus, Sasuke had never observed any other couple kiss, except for very brief instances of memory regarding his parents.

The couple immediately pulled away from each other at Sasuke's presence. Hinata blushed like a schoolgirl. "I— I have to look after the patients," she said hurriedly. "I'll see you later, Naruto-kun..."

Naruto smiled as she scuffled off towards the main building. 'She's so cute when she's embarrassed!' He then turned to his best friend, and shot him a glare of death. "What is it?" Naruto asked, his voice half-official and half-damning.

"It's our turn for guard-duty, _right now_," Sasuke intoned. "I was going to warn you ahead of time, but you seemed busy." A piece of annoyance (dare one call it envy?) simmered within Sasuke. Mind you, he was not jealous for Hinata (and certainly not for Naruto), but the couple had something... interesting. The scene made Sasuke wonder what it would be like, having someone to adore him, and love him no matter what kind of failure he was.

It was food for thought. Sasuke could admit that.

* * *

- To the Fifth Hokage,

We express outrage at the recent self-centered and dangerous moves you have displayed. Not only do you and a few other Kage insist to continue the Chuunin exams in Konohagakure, you have the nerve to revive the cross-border ninja groups as well. Quite frankly, these efforts have been failures of the past. Not only is this a publicity stunt, it is a dangerous move for all ninja villages, as the daimyō will not trust ninja if we unite in any shape or form. If you fear for the safety of your village, as well as the safety of the various daimyō of the country, cancel the Chuunin Exams immediately. If you do not, you will regret it. -

Tsunade snorted as she laid the letter aside. That was the tenth threatening letter the office received this week. Many of the other letters were rants of purile insults, even ad hominem attacks of why a medical ninja got to become Hokage. She would so love to give them a pounding of a lifetime, to show what exactly a medic-nin could do.

The message was actually one of the more intelligent letters. Save the comment of calling Konoha a 'peace-idiot village', and the obvious threat at the end, Tsunade could understand the writer's perspective. It was a good point: the international ninja-effort was a risky business. But it was only because of the recent uprising near the Hidden Rain Village that Tsunade asked the other Kage to help her in it.

There had been increased incidents of Ame-nin leaving their posts. Rumors flew about the rebellion, that the feudal lords in the vicinity were growing mad, ordering strange and impossible missions. There were even whispers that citizens were vanishing.

Some of the torn soldiers from the Rain had come to the Leaf, seeking partial refuge. Yes, partial. They wanted the protection of an official ninja village, and then afterwards go back to their country when it was sane again. It was not only the Leaf: a few other villages, even as far as the Sand, were receiving Ame-nin. If the Ame-nin were not accepted in the villages — well, they usually had to scrape a living in the country, doing missions solo, usually as missing-nin. In turn, jounin and ANBU of the stable ninja villages received increases in missions, but not necessarily increases in pay.

The best thing that Tsunade could do was to put the inexperienced Ame-nin in the exams, representing their own village. If they could just prove that their younger generation still held promise, the daimyō would put some faith into the village and invest in it. Some of the things about the Rain did not suite Tsunade's tastes, but she was not willing to be responsible for the annihilation of a whole village.

Thus, what she and the other Kage had agreed upon was to put in mixed groups. They had to select their own genin carefully, the hardiest and most able to defend themselves, should their comrades decide to attack them.

Tsunade looked at the list of five Leaf genin she selected for the program. One was Haruno Sakura, her own student. The pink-haired kunoichi worked well with others. She was a superb medical ninja, something that was a demand in all ninja villages. And she could protect herself. Sakura had the taijutsu from her and Lee, plus a little of genjutsu from her father.

The Hokage smiled. 'Make us proud, Sakura.'

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto ran to their assigned area, jumping over the rooftops and into the forest. "The first one who touches so much as a leaf loses!" Naruto challenged.

Sasuke grumbled at Naruto's attempts for another dual. "How do you measure something like that?" he asked. "It's pointless."

Naruto snorted. "It's a stealth-practice, asshole. You know perfectly well that a shinobi has to move along with the terrain. If you fly into a swarm of branches, your enemy will immediately locate you."

Sasuke eyed a dark spot in an upcoming tree. "Like those coming up?"

"Yes, exactly — HOLY SHIT!"

The mass that Naruto and Sasuke initially had thought of as a clumb of branches, was in reality a web of dark-purple thorns. It was an enormous ball of sticks and needles. It stank of vile aura.

Naruto's body was going too fast through the air, so he could not stop himself entirely. Instead, he grabbed a hold of a sturdy branch, and swung himself up, letting the momentum carry him up and around.

Naruto stood up from the branch, and eyed the collection of thorns. "What is that thing?"

He had a bad feeling about it, especially when Kyuubi was hissing in his cell.

**'BOY, that thing you see — go inside and kill it! KILL IT!'**

Naruto blinked. 'Why? What is it?' he mentally asked the fox-demon. 'What does it _do_?'

**'Look at your mere fleas of comrades; see what's happening to them.'**

Comrades? Naruto focused on the hanging cluster of black branches: there were the two chuunin whom he and Sasuke were supposed to change posts with. The enormous thorns twisted around their unconscious bodies.

'What the hell is this?' Sasuke focused a bit of chakra into his eyes. The onyx changed into red with three black teardrops. With his Sharingan, the young ninja scanned his colleagues trapped in the mess. The branches had chakra emitting from them. The power's color was a creepy ivory-white, dwarfing the wisps of blue aura that escaped the shinobi's bodies. Well, at least the ninja were still alive. It did not seem like the branches were draining aura from them... Yet Sasuke still had no idea what it was. It looked like a cross between a hornet's nest and a large thorn bush.

"Don't go near it, Naruto," Sasuke said. "It has immense chakra."

"Well, duh. I know that just by feeling the air." Naruto glanced at his unconscious colleagues — damn, if only he and Sasuke came sooner. "But how are we going to save them?" he asked frantically.

Naruto looked into the nest of thorns. Something appeared underneath the dark-purple branches.

He realized that it was an eye. A very large, single, eye. Naruto dropped his jaw in shock.

**'You IDIOT!'** Kyuubi roared.** 'Kill it before the eggs hatch!'**

Naruto snapped back to the present. "EGGS?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.

Sasuke instinctively drew out a kunai and threw it at the center of the mass. The eye blinked away out of sight. The weapon passed through, and stopped with the cracking sounds of branches. No spurt of blood appeared. The eye appeared again; the kunai itself was still lodged in the center.

A shiver went down Sasuke's spine. This was not human. It was not even remotely animal.

A sharp twig suddenly appeared to Sasuke's side, right out of his blind angle. It's knife-like point glistened, ready to take its next victim.

"Sasuke!" Naruto leapt from his spot, and shoved the teenager out of the path of the incoming spear. The blonde's push and irritating voice yanked the raven-haired ninja from his momentary lapse. The two attached themselves to a nearby tree with chakra in their hands and feet. "What are you doing, Bastard, freezing like that?"

"Shut up!" Sasuke snarled. "Let me think about this situation!" He and Naruto disappeared from their spot, avoiding another purple-black spear. Ivory aura hissed at the point of contact on the tree, eating away at the bark and raw wood.

"Duh, we've got to destroy that thing!" Naruto shouted. "But first we've got to get those two out of the —"

The web of branches loosened unexpectedly. The thorns gave way, bloodying the two chuunin nesting in the mass, and finally letting them go. Well, that certainly solved the dilemma of freeing their teammates. The only problem was that at the rate they were hurtling toward the ground, they would probably get crushed.

The bodies stopped mid-fall. They bounced upward. Soon, the two chuunin were suspended in the air.

Sasuke growled as he held onto the strings. The weight of two unconscious people really could make a simple tool like a string dig into one's palms. He slowly began to walk in and around the branches with chakra in his feet, tying the wires around so that the two unconscious men would not drop.

"Nice catch, Sasuke!" Naruto then shot his face towards the ball of thorns, the large eye glistening. "Now to kill this thing before it hatches, or whatever."

The monster inside of the mass turned its vision to the ground, directly away from Naruto. Its slimy eye widened — from fear or from shock, the boy could not tell. But it was an opening. Naruto's hand opened to reveal a small ball of chakra. He had been powering it up for the past minute or so; it was so concentrated that it could bite through anything.

The blond shinobi snarled as he jumped from the tree trunk, towards the cluster of thorns. It was the eyeball he had to aim at. "_Rasengan!_"

The strange creature then realized the dangerous predicament it was in. It willed a set of thorns to cover itself as protection — but Naruto's attack simply ripped through, branches and eyeball, like a hot knife through butter. A glob of disgusting material burst around Naruto's hand.

* * *

Sakura walked down the moss-covered steps. Her last shift had ended ten minutes ago. Now was the time for enjoying the scenery.

She had been quite busy throughout the day, running around with rolls of bandages like some madwoman. She even had to pull a few ninja out of a comatose state; they had gone in some odd type of shock during the attack. She had to constantly 'borrow' Hinata's medical creams, and a few of the shrine maidens supplied the team with fresh herbs. When the medical team had stabilized everyone, it was already late in the evening.

It was a blessing that the miko of the Shinto shrine were willing to house them and their injured colleagues for a couple of nights. The inns in the vicinity were full because of the long party at the daimyo's house. Sure, it might only have been because the miko wanted some attention from good-looking males (a certain handsome blond with a dark knight attracted good attention), but anything that reduced expenses for Konohagakure was good for the mission. For return payment to the shrine, the ninja agreed to patrol the area around the shrine as well as the daimyo's property.

Sakura was not part of the official patrol, but that did not bar her from exploring the area a bit. The half-greened, half-stone road was very comfortable to walk on. The quaint Jizou statues lined up to the side of the road, watching over those passing by.

Sakura bend over to the small statue, and tightened the red scarf it had around it. Her fingers brushed the stone material.

Sakura realized that the statue was moving.

Not only that, the ground was shaking. 'An earthquake?' Sakura thought. 'No… Earthquakes usually occur with one loud shake, and the smaller tremors come afterwards. Is there a giant animal in the vicinity?'

Sakura knelt down, and touched the stone steps. They were still. The vibrations were already gone. The kunoichi looked around. What had caused that?

The girl heard some distant calls in the forest.

A brief touch on Sakura's shoulder made her freeze. There was someone behind her.

Her eyes turned wide. How could she not have sensed the stranger? Sakura had an innate ability for not only controlling chakra, but also identifying different types. But in her personal musing, she had totally forgotten about her surroundings, including the drifting of life aura throughout the atmosphere.

Sakura turned her head to get a better glimpse of the person. He was completely covered in a black cloak, hiding his neck and almost his entire body. The man wore a weather-beaten straw hat, tilting it to hide his face. He was a master at stealth, quiet as night.

"Is there something I can help you with?" Sakura asked politely. Just because her outer and inner selves seemed to have fused together long ago, did not mean she had to act like a bitch. In fact, it was her duty as a kunoichi to blend into social settings. Although it was obvious in other villages and cities that she was not a local resident (green eyes and a flowery mop of pink hair was something exotic), the common people usually received a mature young woman with kindness and respect. Sakura returned the favor. As anybody in espionage knew, good manners along with an informed and fully alert mind could haul in stacks of juicy information.

But the stranger in black, standing behind her, said nothing in return. He only shook his head, lightly setting off the wind chimes attached to his straw hat.

Sakura shivered. This man was not what he seemed. His entire demeanor had an eerie feel. She decided that this was a good time to walk away. Her heel rose slightly from the ground.

The stranger raised his straw hat. Two orbs revealed themselves to Sakura, and imprinted themselves in her vision. They were dark, and very difficult to read. Without her knowing it, Sakura found herself studying them intently, like some ancient book. But like many intricate books, there was a risk attached in reading it: either get completely enthralled in it, or turn bored enough to make one fall asleep. Even on a beautiful afternoon such as this.

Sleep. It was a nice thing, as Sakura thought about it. The stranger's eyes were mysterious. What color were they? Wait, why would she want to know that in the first place?

Sleep.

Sakura realized she could not move.

Her psyche snapped into battle mode. 'Genjutsu?' she thought it alarm. There was an entrapment taking over her mind. It had to do something with the stranger's eyes; that much she could guess. Sakura closed her own eyes, and willed her body to escape the hypnotic spell. She willed her normal stream of chakra to halt.

Sleep. It's _so_ nice, a voice coaxed.

'I will do no such thing!' Sakura shouted mentally, her chakra coursing through veins once more. Her emerald eyes snapped open, seeing clearly. Sakura avoided looking at the man's face, especially his hypnotizing eyes. She backed away in quick, careful steps, her body loosening from the paralysis. The stranger person was dangerous. She could not possibly fight him alone. Were he a professional assassin, she would need a little backup.

Escaping was the wisest choice for the moment.

If only she had enough time to do it.

What happened next was a blur. The stranger appeared in front of Sakura almost instantaneously. He raised a pale hand, and gave a hammer-like tap on her forehead, hitai-ate and all. It had only been his finger, but he nailed it right: the tight force of the blow made the kunoichi stagger back and fall on her rear end.

This embarrassed Sakura, that some weirdo in a black cloak could sneak up on her like that and insultingly flick her on the forehead, as if she were a child being reprimanded. She wondered what was going through his brain: one moment it seemed like he was trying to kill her, the next moment, it turned out he was teasing her.

Sakura reached up to touch the Konoha hitae-ate that had protected her from a worse blow. But instead of steel, her fingers met smooth skin. A sudden gasp escaped her lips as she looked up.

The man's hand tightly held Sakura's hitae-ate. His nails were painted in a dark purple, and a ring laced a long finger.

Sakura suddenly forgot her fear. "Hey!" It did not matter to her at the moment that this oddity tried to hypnotize her, made her fall back just by the movement of his wrist, and stole her hitae-ate without her even sensing it. That hitae-ate was _hers._ "Give that back!"

"What is this to you?" he asked, holding up the headband. The stranger lowered his head again, veiling his face underneath the straw hat. His thumb rubbed the Konoha symbol engraved on the steel plate. "This is a piece of metal. Nothing more." The man threw the hitae-ate at Sakura's feet, as if it were some piece of trash.

"Asshole," Sakura muttered under her breath as she bent over to pick it up. So the man had no intention of hurting her. He was only a bully.

Taking this opportunity, the man closed his eyes in concentration. He had to be quick and efficient in this. The nearby demon attack provided a distraction, enough time for him to reach this pink-haired girl. If she died as a result — well, too bad for her that she was not up to par with the standards. She already had a couple points off for letting her guard down.

As Sakura raised herself up, her green eyes caught something strange. She saw two dots with red and black swirls. They literally sucked out the environment. Everything in her vision melted into darkness.

An overwhelming sense of dread washed over her.

Sakura heard a terrified scream break the peace. Little did she realize that it was her own voice.

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	5. Three Days

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Ten whole days since I last updated... Ouch. I haven't been this late ever since my trip during the summer. I'm sorry, dear readers; I know perfectly well you might be pissed off at me dragging my feet, but Latin and swimming are taxing my body — plus the Minnesota winter makes it next to suicidal to use the computers in our house (which are BOTH near a window). So I'm arming myself with flannel pajamas, robe, wool socks, whatever to keep me from turning into a monument of ice.

Did you know that the female collegiate swimmer has to consume around an average of three thousand calories per day? For men, their requirement goes up to five thousand calories. I just learned that from the nutritionist. Thus, I am blissfully skipping off to an eating spree. (Butterfly stroke, plus cold weather, equals need for cookies.)

x

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

-Writing-

(( Flashback ))

x

Chapter 5: Three Days

* * *

Naruto closed his eyes. "Urk!"

Sasuke watched in amazement — and then total disgust. For once in his life, he was glad that the Chidori was a slightly inferior attack to the Rasengan. At least the Chidori didn't drench the user in yellow, slimy muck, which exactly happened to Naruto when he sent a whirling sphere of chakra into the middle of a giant eyeball. Like a blender with the cap off, the spinning motion of the Rasengan sent flying the monster's remaining contents every which way. Naruto got most of the stuff close-range.

After the splattering noise halted, Naruto yanked his arm from the tangle of wet branches. He wiped his face and looked down at himself: warm eyeball gunk covered his front.

Sasuke examined his teammate. "You look like shit."

"Shut up," Naruto grunted. He peeled away some of the gelling mass from his jacket. "Hey, get me a scroll or something to record this. Some chakra is still coming out of it." Naruto then noticed something strange: the yellow mass began to give off a hissing vapor. The gelling liquid gave a slight burn to his skin, even though there was no visible destruction of clothing or flesh.

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto looked up. A dark-haired girl was trembling behind a tree, her eyes wide with shock.

"Hinata." Naruto felt stupid, being seen by his girlfriend in a disgusting mess. He was also nervous about how he was going to explain this.

Hinata immediately ran over to tend to him. "Naruto-kun, what is that... stuff?" She hesitantly reached over. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"

"Oh, it's nothing," the fox-boy said quickly, trying to ignore the searing pain biting at his skin. He visibly winced, causing his girlfriend to frown. "Urg! I mean, it's... um..."

Sasuke bit his lip in frustration. Naruto should have thought a bit longer before unleashing a Rasengan on an untouchable monster. Hinata had a little medical experience, but this could be something a little too weird for normal first aid to handle. If Sakura were here, she likely would also have been befuddled.

Hinata closed her eyes for a moment. They opened, turning from the soft purple tint into a pale white. With the Byakugan, Hinata looked carefully over Naruto's body. Chakra healthily streamed through his arteries. The area around his stomach was mysteriously blurry, but otherwise, Naruto looked fine.

Hinata then looked at the gunk covering him. The mysterious substance was giving off frightening aura. The energy — and material — seemed to lift off from Naruto's skin, collect itself in the air, and unite into one straight line. Her white eyes followed its path in the air. Finally, the energy trailed towards a spiky heap on the ground. The little mountain of branches and gunk began to twitch in movement.

The last of the gel hissed off of Naruto's form. He gingerly rubbed his skin. "Damn, that felt _weird_." The ninja then looked at the blank scroll in his hand. He then remembered why he had it in the first place. "Aw, man, I didn't collect the data on the stuff!"

Sasuke stared at a mount of branches. It began to snap itself back into its original shape. The view through his Sharingan made Sasuke uneasy.

Sasuke and Naruto did not notice as a child-ghost floated down in front of Hinata.

"Hinata-neechan!"

It took all of Hinata's self-control not to yelp at the appearance of Zashiki Warashi. The glowing ghost settled himself near the unconscious chuunin. "You've got to hurry before the demon sucks out their hitodama!"

Hinata blinked at the ghost's unusual warning. "Hitodama?"

What were hitodama again? She remembered that term from way back in her childhood. The word 'hito' meant 'person' and 'tama' meant a ball or jewel; when they were combined the 't' sound intensified into a 'd'... The ball of a person? That made no sense.

Naruto looked at Hinata with concern. "Hinata-chan, what's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing." Hinata gave an embarrassed cough. Of course she was the only one who could see or hear Zashiki Warashi. The kunoichi turned back to the ghost, and shot him a worried look, subconsciously asking him what he meant by 'hitodama.'

Warashi pointed at the two unconscious chuunin, their forms slumped against the trees. A light line of yellow looped around them, then stuck straight into their foreheads. When the chakra whip came out again, attached to the ends were two spheres of blue light.

Sasuke's eyes darkened. Naruto's gaze also caught the hirodama.

Hinata blinked. 'Of course! Hitodama are souls of people!' She glanced at the two male chuunin. 'It seems like Sasuke-san and Naruto-kun can see them as well. I just have a more extended vision by seeing higher spirits like Zashiki Warashi.'

Hinata chewed on her lower lip as she tried to think back at the ghost-stories she had heard as a child. That segment of her memory was rather blurry, as she quickly lost interest in tales of horror; she had learned early in life that people were more frightening than ghosts. 'I remember hearing that when hitodama float around freely, it's a sign that they're unsatisfied spirits...' Well, those souls were forcibly taken out; of course they'd be a little annoyed.

Warashi pointed at the nest of branches. "See that moving lump? Inside there is a youkai," the ghost explained to Hinata. "Right now, it's trying to gather souls to create more eggs. Your lover-boy seemed to have given you a bit more time by temporarily destroying it."

Hinata blushed. Lover-boy. "What do I have to do?" she asked Warashi.

"You're the Kokoro no Miko, aren't you?" the shaggy-haired boy stated. "Use your special charm!"

Hinata mouthed out 'Charm?' with a confused look.

Warashi slapped his forehead. "Oh, yeah, you don't know yet." He tugged the hem of his small kimono. "Well, I don't really have any scrolls on exorcism that I can give to you." He began to laugh, a bit embarrassed. "Actually, I don't know the jutsu, either! Now that I think back, I'm supposed to push you into finding it out yourself..."

"Warashi!" Hinata peeped quietly. This ghost did not seem to be helping her at all! From the corner of her eye, she witnessed a mass of branches and unknown aura forming into a gigantic, cocooned eyeball.

"Shit!" Sasuke cursed. The eyeball-nest was reshaping. And Hinata did not seem to be of any assistance; she was mumbling strange things to herself.

"ALRIGHT!" Naruto rejoiced, rolling up his now-dry sleeves. "Time to kick its ass again!"

"You complete idiot!" Sasuke shouted. "How are we supposed to defeat that thing? It'll just pull itself back together!"

"I'm thinking about it!" Naruto shot back.

Sasuke gave him a skeptical look.

"...Maybe I missed at first shot?" Naruto guessed. Before Sasuke could retort, Naruto ran to the bodies of the chuunin, and heaved them over his shoulders. With chakra in his legs, he jumped away. "Hinata, keep away from that thing!" he shouted. "Its branches are long and fast, like spears; your Juuken won't be good unless you get in close!"

Hinata nodded as she backed away. She understood: with her Byakugan, she was going to act as the observer, and then inform Naruto or Sasuke where to attack. At least, that was Naruto's plan.

Warashi floated in Hinata's way. "Don't listen to him, Hinata-neechan!"

In her surprise, the girl tripped and fell right through his form. Hinata gasped as a wave of cold air brushed through her. Going through a ghost was a rather unpleasant experience, like a sudden cold shower.

Warashi ignored her shock. "Hinata-neechan, you're the only one that can kill that thing!"

Hinata got back up, shaking. "What do you mean, Warashi-chan? How?" She was not going to run into a youkai-demon without a plan to defeat it. Any ninja knew that strategy was first and foremost.

Sasuke, meanwhile, stayed in his place at a distance from the demon. He pulled out a kibaku-fuda — an exploding note. The Uchiha activated it with a touch of chakra, and tied it to a kunai with a piece of string. He threw the object, letting it whiz, burning, towards the mutant eye.

The giant eyeball spun, locking in the direction of the incoming kunai. One gnarly branch uncurled, and caught the flying weapon out of the air.

Sasuke breathed sharply. 'It _stopped_ it?' His hands snapped together, having a good idea of what was coming next. 'Kawarimi no Jutsu!'

The monster's knarled branches threw the kunai back to Sasuke. A log replaced the ninja's form. The tagged kunai made a light thud in the wood, before detonating and turning the log into pieces.

'Damn, the monster is somewhat intelligent,' Sasuke thought, jumping onto another tree branch. 'We've got to think of it as an enemy ninja, or we won't stand a chance!'

Naruto glared at the opponent from a distance. 'Hey, demon-fox,' he mentally called to Kyuubi, 'your idea of attacking into the middle didn't work so well.'

**'That's because you're not the one to finish the job,'** Kyuubi scoffed. **'Your Hyuuga mate seems to be the one.'**

Naruto twitched. Why did the Kyuubi always have to describe his relationship to Hinata in animalistic terms? He had a hard time enough when his mentor Jiraiya attempted to give him strategies on peeking and other perverse activities. Naruto then rehashed Kyuubi's comment. 'Wait, what does Hinata have to do with this?'

Indeed, something was very odd with Hinata. Her form was that of a statue, stiff and cold. Her eyes were chalk-white.

Naruto jumped onto the ground next to her. "Hinata, what are you doing?" She did not answer. She looked as if she were in a trance. Naruto gently shook her shoulders. He began to panic; was Hinata in such shock at the creature that she could not move? "Hinata!"

Hinata blinked. "Na-Naruto-kun?" Her respiration was shallow. She felt strange. Some unknown sort chakra was circulating in her body.

Warashi punched the air. "YES!" he rejoiced. "Hinata, you've got the power!" Hinata looked at the ghost-child with a confused look. "You've learned how to generate holy ki on your own will!" Warashi explained. He superfluously made a Gai-point-of-the-finger at the gigantic eyeball. "Now use your Jyuuken style on that youkai — only this time, put in holy aura with the attack!"

Hinata held her breath. Warashi's advice strangely made sense: the Hyuuga Juuken-style had words like 'divination' riddled into the attack names. Maybe this wouldn't be too complex for her after all. Hinata's fingers curled into the hand-seals. With an additional shot of ki, her Byakugan reactivated. "Naruto-kun, keep Sasuke-san out of the way," she said quietly.

Naruto was too late in realizing that Hinata went off on her own, running towards the youkai-demon. "Hinata, wait!"

Hinata turned around as she ran, and shot Naruto a smile. A hint of pride tugged at her lips. "Don't worry," Hinata called out. "I'm from the House of Hyuuga. I can do it."

* * *

Sakura gasped with a start. Her body was kneeling in the cold ground. She noticed that everything surrounding her was in black and white. She felt extremely exposed, vulnerable. Where was she? As Sakura thought further, she had no memory of what had happened before she dropped in this void.

A low voice broke the silence. "I am here to give a message to you."

Sakura clutched her shoulders, hugging herself. She decided to not heed the voice. 'This is an illusion,' she thought to herself. 'Just concentrate on something else. Something else, something else...'

"This is very important," the voice continued, this time with the slightest hint of impatience.

Sakura clasped her hands over her ears. The kunoichi began to hum a tune, which slowly transitioned into a chant. "I'm not listening, I'm not listening..."

"Does this look familiar to you?"

Sakura's eyes opened. A long object warped in front of her, glowing a strange hue.

A sheathed katana was floating in the air. Sakura's face blanched at its sight. The guard of the sword — the circle of metal between the blade and the handle — had a familiar, carved pattern of flowers.

The pink-haired girl let off a nervous snort. "Who do you think I am, riling me up with this image?" She glared at the darkness of the landscape. "Who _are _you?" A figure emerged from the shadows. It was the same person... 'who attacked me!' Sakura thought in frustration. And he still had the damn cloak and hat obscuring his face.

"Someone else is holding the real katana," the man said. "I have seen it. How otherwise could I have conjured its appearance to you?"

Sakura was too paranoid by now to answer. She was beginning to doubt the sword in front of her as well. She tried to push it away from her, but it simply wafted in the air and floated back. The kunoichi put her hands together in a seal. "Kai!" she shouted, trying to dispel the genjutsu.

Nothing.

"Kai!" She closed her eyes in concentration. There had to be some glitch in this spell; there just had to be. "KAI!"

The stranger ignored her poor attempts to cancel the illusion. "You need a test."

"Test?" Her voice heaved. The sheathed katana edged itself to Sakura. She reluctantly trailed an index finger over the hilt. Its touch felt so... wonderful. This environment did not seem so much like a genjutsu anymore.

Sakura gasped in pain as her legs buckled. She looked down, and saw a kunai stuck in her right thigh. It felt very real. Even the blood seeping out was warm to her touch. The surrounding air froze to the bone.

One of the shadows charged towards her, with a sword of its own drawn.

Sakura's hand automatically grabbed the sheathed katana from the air, and cleanly pulled the weapon out. The magnificent sword slashed through one charging clone, making it burst into a cloud of smoke. 'Kage-bunshin,' Sakura noted. She immediately grew aware of how heavy the weapon was. Her wrists began to burn with the strain. Had it been so long since she held a katana? Even when it was her own...

Except that this katana wasn't the true original. This world was surreal, including the object she held.

But it was it ever a superbly crafted world. All of her five senses were accurate to real life, even the way her palm rubbed against the handle. The copy was perfect.

The man tilted his head. "Do you want to see Minoru again?"

Sakura stiffened. 'How does he know?' She yelped as another kunai was thrown at her. The kunoichi barely managed to evade it by side-stepping. 'Nobody here is supposed to know about Minoru-san!' she thought in panic. 'And this katana definitely is... but it can't be, I'm in an illusion!'

A second figure warped into existence. Then a third, then a forth appeared.

Pretty soon, Sakura found herself surrounded by about twenty duplicates of the cloaked man. Her eyes narrowed at the stiff atmosphere they gave off. Was this what a lynch mob felt like?

The controller scrutinized the young lady at his feet. A new determination was in her green eyes as she held the katana in perfect form. She looked like a noble samurai, a type practically nonexistent these days.

"For three days, you shall display your abilities as a sword-fighter to me," he said in a monotone. It was more of an order than a statement.

Sakura gaped. "Three days? Are you serious?"

In response, all the replicas took a fighting stance against the kunoichi.

Sakura was screaming with rage inside. 'Damn it; he's really serious!'

The pink-haired girl highly doubted this person's offer. In truth, she _wanted_ it to be true. She wanted to believe that the one named Minoru was still alive. But what had happened two years ago was too shocking — Sakura had cried so many times, that death seemed the only valid possibility.

Besides, harsh reality always made Sakura stronger. And this place she was now in was just an illusion. It could be easily said that this stranger was only bluffing, coaxing her with hopeful words.

"What if I don't _want_ to show my so-called experience?" the kunoichi spat. "It seems you know enough about me to know that the _real _version of this," she fingered the katana, "is mine. But my experience is limited. Not to mention, I used it in a completely different place." She breathed. "What if I fail this test of yours?"

The man contemplated the thought for a while. He could tell her the entire truth, of what would happen if she refused. It was through his command that she had movement at all in this world. He could torture her with images of blood, pain, guilt... all so terrible that the experience would completely shut down her consciousness, enough to make her physical body stop functioning. Torture to the brink of death: that was the original purpose of this jutsu, after all.

But she was too valuable to die just yet. There was too much at stake.

The gang of clones raised their weapons. "Do what you were taught," the leader said simply. "You have limited free will here. Just like in the real world."

* * *

Hinata dodged the incoming branches of spears. 'Priestess of Souls' — the girl did not know exactly what that meant. Neither did she choose to be such an entity. But it was her responsibility. And there was no way she would allow this demon to simply take the souls of her fellow ninja.

Hinata stopped one meter away from the gigantic eye. Its iris was a dark purple. Mucus of a pale yellow dripped and shone over its surface.

The veins around Hinata's eyes thudded. The insides of the monster, its amazing flow of chakra, flashed into her vision. Yellow aura pulsed through the monster at three times the rate of a normal shinobi. But she spotted a particular area: two blue spots were surrounded by a web of yellow demonic chakra. 'The blue points are the trapped souls. And the yellow chakra around it seems pretty loose. If I shoot the energy at just the right angle, I can free the hitodama before I kill the demon.'

Hinata locked her fingers together in a hand-seal. 'Please let this work,' she prayed. Her hands began to emit a white aura.

'One soul!' The girl thrust a palm towards the demon. The impact on the slimy eyeball made a gruesome sound. As Hinata withdrew her hand, she noticed that the blue hitodama had attached to her palm. It then floated and quickly nestled near her breast, as if begging for protection.

One dark-purple branch angrily aimed at Hinata's back. She, in turn, pushed the attack away with a chakra-coated wrist — a mini-version of the Kaiten. She threw her other hand towards the second trapped soul within the demon. 'And the other!' The Priestess pulled out the second hitodama.

Hinata drew back, holding two glowing sphere near her chest.

She then noticed something terribly wrong. A wall of sharp branches completely encased her. And the monster began to produce chakra at an alarming rate.

Hinata gulped. A chill of fear swept away her self-confidence, as it usually did. With her nearly 360-degree vision, she noticed how her path was spiked with dark-purple branches. There was no going back. If Warashi's advice failed, there would be no escape for her — she would be trapped in this hell of thick needles and slime.

How was she going to get out of this one? She rarely did things like this unless she was told to do so. Going into enemy line, with a death wish. How could she have been so stupid?

The eye in front of her bore into her vision, daring her to try an escape. She was going to die. It seemed inevitable. After all, she was the weak baby of the Hyuuga clan.

(( "Stop deciding things about other people, IDIOT!" Naruto snarled at Neji from above. "Hinata, _kick his ass!_" ))

The image of the blond, hyperactive ninja flashed through Hinata's mind.

That was right. She was now Naruto's girlfriend. If she was going to maintain that status, she had to be strong. Not only for her clan and herself, but also for him. Especially for Naruto.

Hinata's white eyes locked onto the center of pulsing, yellow energy of the demon. She bent over into the Juuken stance, but shifted it a little to match to the height of the monster.

There was the tight bending of wood. Needle-sharp branches turned towards the Hyuuga's petite form.

A powerful spark of chakra zapped through her fingers. With the last of her ki, Hinata thrust her two palms into the black pupil of the eye.

A bright glow burst out of her hands, like a crackling sphere of energy. The cleansing power overcame her and the demon.

* * *

Sasuke's red eyes squinted as white light burst out of the nest. The branches around it disintegrated. The demon was probably destroyed. Hinata, he had no idea.

Naruto began to run towards the ruins, but Sasuke grasped the back of his shirt.

"Stay here," Sasuke ordered. "Let me go in." The dark-eyed ninja did not know what that technique was, but there was a large possibility that Hinata was already dead from the blast. So much aura had exploded from the spot she had been; branches lying around had splintered into needles. Sasuke would not put it past the Hyuuga to have a suicidal kinjutsu up her sleeve.

The Uchiha sighed as he walked over the mess. It was better if Naruto did not see her corpse, or what was left of it. Sasuke knew what it felt like to lose somebody important, and see their remains. He was not going to let that happen to his best friend if he could help it.

A lithe figure emerged from the cloud of dust.

Sasuke's jaw nearly opened in shock.

Hyuuga Hinata, battered and bruised, gingerly stepped through the remains of the nest. Her body was glowing a faint white, as did her eyes. Held safely to her chest were the two flickering hitodama.

The girl stumbled over to the knocked-out shinobi. Hinata's arms loosened, and the two hitodama clumsily floated into the air, like baby birds taking their first flight. They resettled themselves into the bodies of the unconscious ninja.

Her surrounding aura faded away. Hinata's eyes close in relief. Then they opened up, back to the pearly lavender she was used to.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata murmured, thus confirming to both Naruto and Sasuke whether she was real.

Naruto pounced on her. She gave a squeak as he tackled her on the ground in a tight hug.

Naruto gasped heavily. He practically fought the sobs of happiness from breaking out. "Hinata, oh gods... I thought... I was going to lose..."

Hinata gave a weak smile. "I... I did it," she whispered.

"Yeah. You did it." Provided, Naruto did not exactly know _how_ she did it. But she seemed extremely happy with the accomplishment, and so was he. Naruto smiled at her, and planted a short kiss on her lips.

Hinata conked out from the touch.

"Daaah! HINATA!" Naruto exclaimed as she collapsed in his arms. Perhaps that had been the wrong time for such a maneuver, he thought. "I'm sorry!"

"Don't shout," Sasuke said. "She just fainted from chakra loss."

Naruto looked closer, and saw that Hinata was snoozing peacefully. The blond ninja gave a sigh of immense relief. He almost cooed at her sweet face. But that would probably tick Sasuke off more, and as of the moment Naruto did not feel like teasing the raven-haired young man to the point of rage. His girlfriend's state required medical attention. He gave a peck on her cheek before he hoisted her up, bridal-style.

Sasuke examined the two chuunin lying in the grass. Their vitality signs were normal, and they were beginning to wake up on their own. The young man then glanced at the dead mass of the former demon. The incident needed further investigation.

* * *

Sasuke huffed as he and Naruto neared the door to the room reserved for the patients. Hinata had already woken up during their walk — she was still tired, so Naruto carried her piggyback.

Sasuke reached for the hollow in the sliding door. There were low murmurs inside. His hand stopped at soon as he picked up the conversation.

"Her temperature is normal," one voice said. "And her pulse is healthy."

"Does she have a history of anemia? Epileptic fits?"

"None whatsoever," a third voice affirmed, which Sasuke recognized as that of the head doctor. "Except with her late-night studying, she's has been in peak physical health. Up until now."

So another ninja was having difficulties. That would probably add to Sakura's workload, Sasuke thought.

The head-doctor made a heavy sigh. "Well, with shinobi like her under so much stress, having fainting spell is no problem at all..."

"If her chakra was depleted, then that would be a sign of an attack, wouldn't it?"

Sasuke blinked. He noticed that Naruto and Hinata were intently listening to the conversation, like children eavesdropping.

Inside, the doctor crossed his arms, the unconscious Sakura lying before him. "Well, I wouldn't put it past her to train herself until she dropped."

"But what was she doing, lying on the ground like some sort of dead carcass?" one apprentice said impatiently. He slammed his fist on the tatami-mat. "What's _wrong_ with Haruno? It's like she's dead!"

A slip was heard from the hallways through the closed door. Then a large thud. The doctors looked up in alarm towards the door. Following the noise was a feminine squeak, along with a string of curses with words like 'idiot' and 'bastard' littered in between.

One medic-nin stood up, and slid open the door, meeting the sight of three chuunin tangled together in the hallway. It looked like while Naruto had been carrying Hinata, and had crashed into Sasuke. That was what the doctor guessed.

The truth was, the fall had been initiated by Sasuke himself: he had slipped on the floor, and fell into Naruto who was right next to him.

Sasuke got up, and straightened himself in front of the head doctor. "We have a new patient," he intoned.

"Oh. Hyuuga, eh?" The doctor motioned to an empty bed behind him. "Come, lie down."

While the medic-nin checked over Hinata, Sasuke's dark eyes fell upon the futon where Haruno Sakura lay. A blank look was on her pale face. Dark hints of green showed through the slits of her eyelids. The medic-nin around her — her own colleagues — had various expressions of their faces as they observed her. Some had slight worry, a few studied her as if she were an anonymous corpse.

Her chest rose and fell slowly. She was still alive.

"What's with her?" Sasuke asked one of the medic-nin.

"She seems to be in some weird sort of shock," the other answered. "Her chakra was nearly depleted when one of our jounin found her, lying face-down in the road next to some Jizou statues."

Sasuke's black eyes narrowed. "Was she attacked?"

The medic-nin shrugged. "We're not sure. No signs of physical struggle marked her body. She could have just fainted or something. I only saw a bruise on her right shoulder when we examined her."

'Right shoulder.' Sasuke blinked, the words repeating in his mind. An unknown rage boiled within him as he looked at the male medic-nin sitting next to Sakura. 'This idiot looked at Sakura's _bare_ shoulder? Did he see her bra strap or anything lower?' Okay, so this man was trained in medicine; it was normal for him to see these things. But he had also been giving Sakura funny glances, as Sasuke noticed on their journey here.

The medic-nin felt a chill as the Uchiha glared at him. Was it something he said?

"Get out of my way," Sasuke hissed, brushing past him.

One arm of Sakura moved sideways. Her face scrunched up as she tried to regain control of her body.

Sakura looked up. Two dark tunnels blinked in her vision. With a jolted gasp, the pink-haired girl clawed the futon blanket that warmed her.

"You're awake," Sasuke noted above. He realized that he must have scared her — in fact, his face was only half a meter away from hers. It was a marvelous achievement in terms of crunching his personal space.

Sakura's head turned away from Sasuke. She raised a trembling hand to her cheek. Cold sweat began to form on her brow at the memory of what had happened. Or at least, what seemed to have happened.

The medic-nin at Sakura's bedside looked at her. "How do you feel, Haruno-san?"

"I..." Sakura blinked away tears of stiff horror. She rubbed her hands against each other. There was no pain on contact. No blood. Not even a scratch on her body.

"The day!" the pink-haired girl burst out. She turned her head to Sasuke. "What's the date today?"

"It's Tuesday," the raven-haired ninja informed her.

Relief flooded Sakura's mind. She sighed as she rested a hand over her chest. All she saw didn't happen. It was just a dream. Noticing how comfortable the futon was, Sakura let herself fall back into it. A smile of glee lit the kunoichi's face as she hugged the pillow.

"It wasn't three days," she whispered, as if it were a wonderful secret that was bursting out of her.

Sasuke harrumphed. There was Sakura, again flying off into her giddy, personal world.

Then again, he sort of liked it when she smiled.

* * *

Notes: Yeah, yeah, it's kind of slow. But I promise the 'others' will appear in Konoha in the next chapter. The Chuunin Exams will be hell for Sakura.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	6. Vines and Water

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Oh, and if you haven't guessed by now, it's an AU. This story is only accurate up to the first part of the Naruto saga.

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 6: Vines and Water

* * *

Sakura frowned as she observed Naruto devour his rice. "Naruto, don't scarf it. Eat it."

"Can't help it, Sakura-chan," Naruto spurted out. One grain of rice flew out and attached to the face of Sasuke, who sat across from the hungry ninja. The raven-haired chuunin hissed a curse before he wiped away the food.

"What kind of future Hokage has no table manners?" Sakura scolded. She was about to give a little more lecturing, but she froze at the face Naruto gave her. He had just the slightest hint of a pout, with the eyes of a puppy dog — not too much to make him look pathetic, but enough to make any girl feel guilty for attacking him. Naruto looked so adorable and handsome. He was a sight any girl would throw her forgiveness at.

It was so effective that it was scary. It was bad enough that he had invented the Oiroke no Jutsu, a.k.a. Sexy Technique, at the simple age of twelve. Now he possessed a trick to disable the female population.

Sakura let off a sigh of defeat, while Hinata giggled.

Sasuke remained stoic as ever. The only movements he gave were of eating the food in front of him, and shooting Naruto a few ANBU hand signals.

'I know,' Naruto thought, waving his wrist, 'discussion. Later.'

"Gochisousama." Sakura clapped her hands together, signaling the end of her dinner. It was half past eight. Sakura got up and excused herself. "Good night, everyone. I'm going to bed now."

"Good night," Hinata and Naruto returned. Sasuke gave a small nod. Sakura disappeared into the hallways, slightly dragging herself off to bed.

Hinata pointed to the retreating form of her pink-haired colleague. "Shouldn't we let Sakura-san in on the attack?" she asked hesitantly. "We'll have to report it to the captain anyway..."

"Nah, better not," Naruto said simply. "She experienced some shock, so she needs rest. And we shouldn't bother her with weird stories."

Sasuke looked around. The shrine maidens were picking up the last of the dirty dishes.

Hinata, unusually pushy, insisted that they help with cleaning up. She also kept on glancing at thin air. Pretty soon, the room was empty. Naruto sat back down on the tatami floor next to Hinata.

Hinata coughed. "Warashi, you can come out now."

Zashiki Warashi popped into visibility. "Greetings!" the ghost said to Naruto and Sasuke.

It would have been friendlier if he did not warp so quickly and unexpectedly in front of the two teenagers. Sasuke's eyes flashed into the Sharingan-mode, and Naruto grabbed Hinata and pulled him against her.

"Hina-chan! It's a—"

The dark-haired girl patted Naruto's arm in reassurance. "Naruto-kun, Uchiha-san. Meet Zashiki Warashi."

Sasuke's red eyes glared at the ragged child. "Well, I certainly can see that you're not a physical body."

"The famous guardian of children, at your service," the ghost announced with a flourish. The lightest hint of cynicism graced his movements and smile. Sasuke guessed that the kid was craftier than it let out on.

Warashi looked up and down at the blond and raven-haired shinobi. "Wow, Hinata-neechan, you have _two_ strong men? You own!"

Naruto dropped a fist onto Warashi, much like an older brother would to a bratty youngster. "Hinata is my girlfrie—" He yelped when his hand, arm, and then entire body fell through the transparent deity. He managed to stop himself from falling face-first on the tatami mat. "What the hell!"

Hinata found her index fingers doing the old habit of twiddling. She was trying to look normal; a trying task, as she was introducing a ghost to her boyfriend and his teammate.

Warashi floated out of the space Naruto occupied, and wafted down into a kneeling position. "You two would be good bodyguards." He eyed the blond ninja dusting himself off. "You must be Uzumaki Naruto, the future —"

WOOSH.

"— and you're Sasuke of the Uchiha-Zoku," Warashi finished.

Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke stared. "What was that?" Naruto asked.

Warashi feigned innocence. "What was what?"

"You said something like Naruto the future... And then there was the wind," Naruto said.

"No there wasn't," Warashi quickly denied. 'Damn it, I broke a rule again!' he thought.

"Of course there was, and you said something important in that time!" Naruto barked.

"Warashi-chan," Hinata soothed, "I know that you're lying."

Warashi looked embarrassed. "Fine. Well, I sort of know bits and pieces of the future. During my talk, I accidentally said something that I shouldn't have said. So some of the spirits censored it for your own safety, and the safety of time-space."

"The spirits censor stuff?" Naruto's eyebrow twitched. 'What do they think we are? A TV program?'

"It would make sense," Hinata said in a low voice. "If you know what you're going to become, then you might not necessarily work towards it. No wonder prophecies are so vague."

"Yup," Warashi said with a nod. The ghost smiled at Hinata; she was quite good with this stuff. Maybe he would tell them later about a mortal who had accidentally found out that he would, in the future, indirectly cause the death of someone by dodging a sniper. So between the point in time when he was told the prophecy, and when he dodged that sniper, he had sort of a life safety-net. This resulted in him making no hesitation in throwing his own self into conditions which would be otherwise lethal for the average, prophecy-free person — such as jumping off of a tall building with no bungee cord, or hitchhiking in space. But that was another story.

"Speaking of prophecy," Warashi continued, "I'm here because of a particular one. And it seems like you guys make up part of it."

Sasuke got up. "Naruto, Hyuuga, good luck with this brat. I'm off to bed." He turned around, and made his way towards the door.

"Hey, wait a second; I'm not finished yet!" Warashi exclaimed. He flew up and over Sasuke, and blocked his path. Sasuke simply walked through the ghost — a spray of frosty air covered him, but he brushed it off. "You're part of the strong Uchiha clan; you're needed by Hinata-neechan!" Warashi insisted.

"What would I get out of something like that?" Sasuke challenged. "I'm a busy man."

Hinata looked worried, while Naruto was boiling with rage. "Hey, he says he needs our help, all right!" Naruto snapped. "At least hear his story out!"

Sasuke huffed before he took his seat again. Five more minutes; no more. If this ghost offered nothing within that time, he would wash his hands of this ridiculous affair.

The shaggy-haired boy floated back down. "Okay." Warashi glanced again at Sasuke, making sure he was still. "Over the past year or so, youkai have been starting to appear in the human world. My superiors don't know how. But what is definite is that they are trying to collect souls." Warashi shivered. "You see, youkai usually are just spirits who embody the forces of nature. But they've been acting strangely — not only that they've been showing up in the human world in mass numbers, but also because of their attacks on humans. You saw what that eyeball-thing tried to do to your soldiers."

Naruto crossed his arms. "But what does this have to do with us?"

"Probably nothing!" Warashi said brightly. "Except that you're strong enough for the job! You see, Hinata-neechan was chosen to be the Priestess of Souls. I recently found out that the Hyuuga clan originated as diviners; it was only later that they evolved into only a people-fighting clan. Of course, the real thing that qualifies her is her pure heart. Hinata just needs a touch of holy ki in her eye... and wham! She's the super-prober for monsters."

A nervous look passed Naruto's face. "Prober?" He glanced down at his belly.

"I'm not very good at it," Hinata said quietly, her cheeks burning from the attention she received. "Like the Byakugan, I can't see through seals — I noticed that when I looked at the o-fuda of the shrine maidens." She didn't notice the quiet sigh that escaped Naruto's mouth.

"I know you're still having difficulties, but you'll get plenty of practice." Warashi scratched his bushy mane. "Anyway, demons are springing up, and we don't know why. Hinata, you already seem to be learning quickly about your duties. Naruto-niichan, Sasuke-niichan, just stay around since you seem to be good ammo."

'Ammo?' Sasuke mouthed out. He was about to throw an insult at the brat, when Warashi began to float away.

"See you guys later!" The ghost-child laughed.

"Hey!" Naruto tightened his fists. "You haven't explained the prophecy to us at all! Or what we're supposed to do!"

"I just did," Warashi said with a shrug. "You do a bit of demon-slaying, because there's gonna be a lot. I'll give you details of the prophecy later, if you're so antsy for information." The ghost disappeared in a pop.

"Bye, Warashi-chan," Hinata said. Her eyes glanced over at Naruto. He simply gave a look that asked her, 'What was _that_?' The Hyuuga sighed. "I know: he's quick."

**'Nosy little whelp of a spirit,' **Kyuubi snarled within Naruto's thoughts.

Sasuke's eyes glowed a dangerous red. Did Warashi just put the duty of killing demons on his shoulders? Okay, so Naruto and Hinata were included in the job description; he was not alone in this. But Sasuke took his own duties seriously. He was a chuunin. He was on the brink of advancing to ANBU. He had an asinine brother to kill and a clan to resurrect, damn it!

The seventeen-year-old had no time for youkai, especially when the news came from a transparent pipsqueak whom Sasuke had met only a few minutes ago. The word 'prophecy' meant trouble. Ghost or not, Sasuke did not take orders from children.

The kid even had the nerve to speak familiarly to him, addressing him affectionately as 'Sasuke-niichan.' Nobody called Uchiha Sasuke 'older brother' in a cute way and lived to tell the tale. Even though Warashi was already dead.

* * *

The birds chirped. Hinata got up, and stretched herself. She glanced at the bed to her side. Sakura slept peacefully in the futon blanket. Going with the head-medic's suggestions, Hinata checked Sakura for any changes in health. She noticed how the pink-haired girl had not even bothered to change into a sleeping yukata; she still was in her green shirt and black pants.

Hinata was startled to find Sakura drenched in sweat. 'What happened? If Sakura-san had a cold, it's good that her body is heating up... But she was doing well yesterday!'

Hinata decided to let Sakura sleep in for the morning cleanup. If she was sick, then she was sick.

Hinata knew well that Sakura had been on Naruto's team, and was one of his closest friends. The two girls sometimes worked together under the extensive medical teams of Tsunade, such as this mission. The pink-haired genin treated Hinata very kindly during their shifts together.

Hinata wished there were some way to help Sakura, both mentally and physically. After all, Sakura had given Hinata encouragement to go after Naruto.

'Well, Sakura _did_ have that huge crush on Sasuke a few years back,' Hinata thought. Perhaps an old flame kindled still. And it seemed like Sasuke might actually requite the feelings. Scratch that: Hinata _knew_ that Sasuke had something more than a curiosity in the pink-haired girl. One did not need the Byakugan to figure that one out, from his shifty behavior around the pink-haired kunoichi over the past year.

* * *

Eight o'clock rolled by.

"Hinata, why isn't Sakura getting up?" Naruto asked. He looked around at the nearly-empty room. Sakura's bed was the only futon left. "She's gonna miss breakfast."

Hinata twisted her hands. "I don't know. She's been sleeping like that forever. And she had already been asleep at nine o'clock last night." Hinata hesitantly looked over Sakura's sweaty face. From the slight opening of the eyelids, Hinata could tell that the eyeballs were not moving. "She's not in REM sleep yet?" Hinata asked worriedly.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Rapid Eye Movement," Hinata explained. "Usually in one night of sleep, you start out with three hours of non-REM. After that is the phase REM, when your eyes begin to move, and dreams begin."

"So what you're saying is, Sakura's been in a dreamless sleep," Naruto concluded. "For an entire night."

"It's an unusual state," Hinata murmured.

Sasuke looked over the snoozing Sakura. "Dreamless or not, she needs to get up." He knelt down to her form.

'That's it, Sasuke-bastard,' Naruto inwardly cheered. 'Just swoop down on her and make your romantic moves. You can do it!'

Without ceremony, Sasuke jerked the warm blanket off Sakura's body.

'Or maybe not.' A vein popped out of Naruto's neck. 'You have to kiss her awake, you idiot prince! Not take the covers away!'

Surprisingly, Sakura did not curl up into a ball from the sudden lack of warmth. She made no movement at all. Sasuke frowned. He gave a light shove on Sakura's shoulder. "Hey. Get up."

No reaction.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. No matter how pretty and peaceful-looking Sakura was in her sleeping state (not that it made an impact on him), she was not going to get out of this one free. The entire troop had to leave the shrine within an hour.

Sasuke was about to call her name a little louder, when he felt a push from behind.

Naruto had harshly planted a foot on Sasuke's back. It caused the dark-haired chuunin to fall, and crash into the body in front of him.

Three words described what he felt: soft, warm, and alive.

Sasuke realized — in horror, but maybe also a little excitement — that his hand had landed on Sakura's left breast. Like grabbing an electric wire, his hand tightened the area with a will of its own. 'Let go! LET GO!' his self-respect yelled.

Sasuke then noticed how certain parts of his body crushed against hers. Her face was very close to his own, and sweat glistened her brow in a strangely appealing way. Her breath was sweet and hot on his neck. Was this the feel of a woman?

"Enjoying yourself, bastard?" Naruto asked with a foxy grin.

Naruto's snigger pulled Sasuke out of his trance. The Uchiha quickly untangled himself from Sakura's form, fearing the worst from such a wake-up call. Sakura was going to kill him.

"You kicked me forward on purpose," Sasuke darkly said to Naruto. His face burned with anger, and something else.

Hinata's blush subsided. "Um... Sakura-san?"

Sakura slept on quietly.

Naruto's jaw dropped. "I can't believe it! She's still asleep!" His thoughts added in dismay, 'Even after Sasuke got a feel out of her!'

Sasuke rubbed his face. Shit. Shit shit shit. He had let his guard down. Not only that, but his heart was thumping at a pace comparable to battle-mode. Since when did he get this nervous all of a sudden?

Naruto sighed. "What are we going to do with her?"

* * *

Sakura's eyes slowly opened. The last thing that happened in her memory was that after she ate dinner and brushed her teeth, Sakura went to bed. She had felt unusually tired after her faint in the forest.

Now she felt the gently sway of being carried. She was on someone's back. A very warm, sturdy back, she noticed. Black hair tickled her nose.

Black hair?

Sakura froze.

Sasuke turned his head a little at the piggy-back cargo. "Finally." He grew embarrassed at the confused look Sakura gave him. "It was literally impossible to wake you up, so I'm carrying you."

Sakura's emerald eyes widened with realization. "I'm sorry!" she squeaked. She tried to slide herself off, but then realized that she had been tied to the Uchiha with various strings. "Uh..."

"Don't even try," Sasuke said, trudging through the forest. "Your sleep was abnormal. Don't do anything stupid."

Sakura blinked. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"For what?" Sasuke asked.

"For carrying me. I'm sorry if I'm heavy." Sakura's hands crept over his shoulders, and her knees and legs tightened around his torso. She shifted her body position to make Sasuke's walking a bit easier.

Sasuke felt something rise within himself as he felt her hands touch his shoulders. It looked like she was coming on to him. What was scary was that he seemed to be enjoying it. That fact made him panic.

"It's okay," he said with a sneer. It was an incredibly forced sneer — he did not mean to hurt her feelings, he just wanted to reaffirm his cool demeanor — but it was a disgusting look all the same. "Carrying deadweight is good for strength-training."

A look of horror passed the faces of the nearby shinobi.

Sakura stiffened at the word _deadweight_. Her green eyes darkened.

Sasuke heard the snapping of strings. Somehow, Sakura had pulled a kunai from his pouch and cut apart the support, which he had so carefully made hours ago. The kunoichi slipped off his back, and soon went with the pace of the troop.

The pink-haired ninja threw the kunai to Sasuke's face. "Here." He caught it with a quick reflex, but the move startled him nonetheless. "Thanks. _Jerk_."

The iciness in her voice alerted Sasuke that he just might have done something wrong.

Sakura stomped her way towards the front of the group. They were almost to Konoha — once there, she could go home and get as far away from the bastard.

Oh, yes: there was also the fact that her foreign teammates for the upcoming Chuunin Exams would soon be arriving in Konoha. It was troublesome, but Sakura had to do it. And who knew? Maybe there were some hidden rotten apples among the entrants that she had to... take care of.

Soon, the familiar gates of Konohagakure came into view. Sakura saw several figures waiting at the checkout, mostly clients. But a few of them were foreign ninja, coming in for the Chuunin Exams.

Two figures caught Sakura's eye. One of them was a short girl, and the other seemed to be a tall adult woman. Among all the ninja and clientele, their regalia were the most unusual.

The pair also looked eerily familiar...

Sakura felt herself go numb as the tall one turned around.

Bangs of blonde hair veiled a pair of icy blue eyes. Wavy hair cascaded down, tied back in a loose ponytail. Dressed in tan and green clothing, the woman had a Grass hitai-ate tied around her throat.

As their eyes met, a foreign voice slipped into Sakura's head. 'Sakura-san, don't look as if you're seeing a ghost,' it echoed playfully. 'I am quite alive, thank you.'

As for the young girl, she was entirely of a different set. She had wavy black hair streaked with purple (or was it the other way around?) and her eyes bubbled a dark tan. A Rain hitae-ate laced her shoulder. She looked no older than twelve years old in her dark-lavender ninja outfit. She was about to yell something out in Sakura's direction, when her blond companion clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her voice. The small girl waved her arm until it blurred, much like a fangirl would greet her favorite idol.

The blond woman winked at Sakura, before she turned around to enter the village of Konohagakure. She dragged her companion off, who seemed to be fighting for her life to run towards Sakura.

Sakura rubbed her eyes, smearing the tears away. Distrust seized her as her green eyes followed the two. "Hey, just wait a second!" Sakura abandoned her position in the troop, running towards the pair into the streets.

The captain of the team blinked as the medic-nin ran off. "Haruno-san? Where are you going?"

Sakura ran through the streets with chakra in her legs. Disbelief and confusion were fixated within her soul, giving her unusual speed.

Too bad that the two she chased were equally as fast. The pair ran around a corner and into a darkened alley. Sakura, well-acquainted with the poorer streets, knew that this way lead only to a dead end.

The grit and muddy water splashed onto the bottom of Sakura's black pants. Sakura was tired from the rush. Shadow fell upon her panting form. Several strands of pink hair had fallen from her now-messy bun.

Sakura felt something crawl around her waist. She yelped, but her voice was blocked by a sphere of water. The kunoichi threw a fist at the floating blob, making it splash away and letting her breathe again.

She then realized that she couldn't move.

Moving tendrils crawled around Sakura's waist. She did not even have time to gasp as they twisted around and embraced her chest.

The set of vines secured around her form, and slammed her back against the wall of the alley. A muffled scream of pain escaped her.

The green-clad being walked up to the trapped form of Sakura. She laid a hand on the brick wall, next to the side of the medic-nin's head. "Sakura-san, you shouldn't cause so much attention." The blonde woman smiled as her face closed in upon Sakura's. "After all, we will be on the same team in the coming exams."

* * *

Notes:

The story of using prophecy — yes, it comes from _Mostly Harmless_, the last of the _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy _book series by Douglas Adams.

"fuda" - protective talisman, usually a piece of paper with the name of the Shinto shrine written on it. Hinata called it "o-fuda", the "o-" an honorific.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	7. Entrants

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Okay, some people are going to be very mad at me for saying this now, but this story "Beyond Hearts and Minds" is a _sequel_ to a previous story, "Dimensional Exchanges." (Kyaaah! Readers armed with maces are after my blood!) If you haven't read "Dimensional Exchanges", that's fine — it's a little raw, and you don't need to read it to understand this story.

Anyways, onward!

x

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

-Writing-

(( Flashback ))

x

Chapter 7: Entrants

* * *

The blonde woman leaned near Sakura's trapped form. A merry smile was on her face.

Sakura quivered. "Minoru-san..." She then began to struggle. "You fake, you phoney!" she hissed. "Minoru-san would never tie me up like a criminal!"

"The Sakura-san I know," the blue-eyed one rebuked, "would not chase and ambush her old friends."

Sakura tightened her lips. "Okay! I'll give you that." The blonde waved a gesture with a hand, and the vines trapping Sakura slipped away. Sakura rubbed her wrists. "But give me some proof that you are Minoru."

Minoru coughed. "I am — or was — under the direct command of Salvia, who was your tutor for some months." Noting the scared expression of Sakura, Minoru continued in a more soothing voice, "I led you through the Rifts, along with Potamos." Sakura paled. "And then at Frida Village, you..."

Sakura buried her face in her hands. A quiet sob escaped her.

"Now, now, don't cry." Minoru gently touched Sakura's cheek.

Sakura's green eyes brimmed with tears. Her hands crumpled up. "What are you thinking, just showing up here as if... as if nothing had happened!" she burst out. "I thought — I thought..."

Minoru looked down. "I understand if you are frightened, or confused. It was my fault. I shouldn't have —"

Sakura's arms slipped around Minoru's form. Although surprised at first, Minoru's blue eyes softened, and the gesture was returned.

Sakura hiccupped within the folds of Minoru's clothes. It took all her might not to raise her voice in the damp alley. "Minoru-san... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Minoru gave a sad smile. "I should be the one saying that. But let's talk about those things later. We have a mission to do for these exams." She pointed towards the corner of the alley. "Oh, and by the way: the devil-child is also here."

Sakura looked up. She saw a blur of purple.

A kunoichi clad in a purple ninja uniform, with bobbed hair of lavender and black, emerged from the shadows. She pounced on Sakura with a squeal. "Sacchan!"

Trained by Tsunade or not, Sakura was so shocked at the girl's appearance that she did not even try to avoid it. The foreign girl glomped onto Sakura. "Potamos?" Sakura asked in a hoarse whisper.

"Call me Kawanami Hiromi," Potamos corrected. Her voice was cute and bubbly, like that of a child. "Hi-ro-mi. At least during the exams. That's my human name!"

'But you're not human,' Sakura commented inwardly. She eyed the girl's brown eyes, and streaked hair. "Pota— I mean, Hiromi... What happened to your eyes?"

"It's called going _incognito_," the girl purred.

Potamos closed her brown eyes. A shot of aura traveled through them. Her eyes opened to reveal eerie, yellow eyes with cat-like pupils. Sakura stared with a bit of awe.

The girl blinked, and the normal brown came back. "Nifty, huh?" Potamos said with a giggle.

A smile streaked across Sakura's face. "That's a well-done transformation." She studied Potamos' curly, lavender-and-black-colored hair. "You were able to do that with your hair, too?"

"Oh, the weird color is just some hairspray that I combed through." Potamos jabbed the air enthusiastically with her fist. "Mino-chan and I have to look a wee bit different in this village. Ya know, so that they won't find us in normal life when we actually are normal." If one looked very closely, a few canine-shaped teeth were set in her jaws. The girl stuck a finger within the crevice of her chest, and lifted up a pendant with a dark-blue stone with yellow dots, a lapis lazuli. "And look: I found out a charm on how to partially hide my aura! This sort of acts as a sealant, and an extra storage space for ki."

The pink-haired medical ninja swallowed. She looked at their Grass and Rain hitae-ate. "Um... how did you guys... get into the other villages?"

"We didn't." Minoru gave Sakura a sly look, holding up a passport. "Haven't you ever heard of something called 'forgery'?"

Sakura looked back and forth between the two. She scrubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. A pained look crossed her face.

Minoru began to panic. "Sakura-san, if it's about the thing in the Rifts, I want to tell you that—"

"No." Sakura's answer had to be pulled out with a gasp. Her lower lip began to waver. "I... I'm just so... relieved, and happy, that both of you are safe..." Sakura gulped, as two lines of tears trickled down her reddened cheeks. She had not felt this much emotion in years. The kunoichi had locked up her grief and loneliness and guilt — and now that they were free, her emotions felt like a river from a broken dam.

Minoru heaved a sigh. qPotamos cuddled against Sakura, as if the medic-nin were an older sister. "Now we've gotta go," Potamos said. "But we'll see you at the meeting tomorrow. 'kay?"

Sakura gave a weak nod. Minoru and Potamos withdrew from her, and began to quietly climb the walls.

With those words, the two disappeared from Sakura's sight. The pink-haired girl fidgeted. 'I really hope they know what they're doing.'

* * *

(( "Carrying deadweight is good for strength-training." ))

Sasuke strode through the streets, cursing himself. What in the world had possessed him to say _that? _Well, it was a grammatical statement, his perfectly objective side said. A clear fact. Between truth and a lie, Sasuke would choose truth.

But saying that directly to Sakura, while he was carrying her: that had clearly been a direct insult. Had that really been necessary? From the looks of it, Sakura had been very upset. She stole his kunai to free herself, and even threw it back at his face. It _had_ felt kind of cold when she slid herself off his back. The kunoichi had abandoned the group, not even showing up to the office for the report.

Not that it had anything to do with the fact that Sasuke was ditching the troop as well. Sakura was again walking into the darker neighborhoods of the village. Damn it, why did he have to baby-sit Sakura? She was like some restless and disobedient child.

As Sasuke thought about it, this area was one of the more... shifty districts. He could sort of tell. A number of scantily dressed females were beginning to step out for the evening.

As he thought about it more, a horrible thought passed Sasuke's mind. If Sakura were here, then...

His jaw tightened. Impossible. She wouldn't have that kind of employment. Sasuke exhaled, letting himself relax. 'Don't panic. Just find her, and get her out of here.'

A giggle sounded out from the corner. A raven-haired beauty, tightly suited in a red bodice and black mini-skirt, smiled at the brooding young man. "Hey. You're quite good-looking."

Sasuke decided to ignore her, and kept on walking. It was annoying that the prostitutes did not know how infamous and (partially) disgraced Sasuke was in the Konoha community. Or maybe they didn't care. Sure, the number of fangirls chasing Sasuke had nearly dispersed after the incident with Orochimaru. But now that he was modestly adjusted, the worst lot of the female species as yet tried to advance on him. And now whores? In some areas of life, he certainly had the worst of luck.

The woman tip-toed to his side, and lightly grabbed his sleeve.

Sasuke turned around. "What?" he asked coldly. He had to keep himself from grimacing. The woman's face had so much mascara and eyeshadow that it looked like her eyelids would fall off any second, and she stank of cheap perfume.

The woman had studied Sasuke's nervous gait, and concluded a few things. "You must be a virgin," she cooed sympathetically. "I'm willing to teach you gently. Especially when you're so cute."

"Go away!" Sasuke snarled out. His eyes turned red, as often happened when he was enraged. The woman immediately shrieked and ran off.

Yet another use of the Sharingan: intimidation.

'What a complete waste of time that was.' Sasuke looked around where he had seen Sakura run off. Almost immediately, he found himself in a spider-web of alleys. How was he going to find her now? Who knows where she could have gone within... five minutes!

After looking around for a while, Sasuke groaned. His fingers snapped together hand-seals. That was it; he was going to send out a snake to pick up her trail.

A light sniff echoed behind a pole.

Sasuke blinked, and he dropped his hands. He strode around the corner, and found a young lady shivering.

* * *

Sakura's face was blotched. At the sudden appearance of Sasuke, she immediately straightened her posture. She rubbed her visage to somehow erase any sign that she had been crying.

"Oh... hey Sasuke." Sakura could choke down that she had recently met two old friends, one of whom she had thought dead for the past couple of years. What she had trouble with was the ugly state of her face. Well, not like it should make any difference to Sasuke.

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something. Actually, he was supposed to apologize. That's what he came here for, right? And to lead her out of the area. "What are you doing here?"

Sakura turned away, and walked off. "I thought I saw something." Her voice turned dead and monotonous. "I guess I was wrong," she lied. She turned away. "See you later."

Sasuke looked at her depressed state. Had he said something in the wrong way again? And Sakura appeared to be ill. "Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," Sakura mumbled.

A low rumble came out from her stomach. The kunoichi looked down, embarrassed.

" 'Okay'?" Sasuke repeated, with a raised eyebrow. He did not blame her for being a bit hungry. Sakura had completely missed breakfast and lunch because of her unusual length of sleep.

Sakura rubbed her temple. She sighed. "I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I'm sleepy... and I need a bath." The girl sniffed her clothes, and frowned at the musty odor. Well, there had been other ninja missions when her clothes stank even worse, but she had been able to rinse out the smell with a periodic dip in a river. It felt as if a gallon of water had been sweated out through her extended sleep; her throat felt so dry. And Sasuke had probably noticed the smell when he carried her. Even though he was a fellow ninja who had his share of dirt and odors, it was still a bit embarrassing.

Sasuke examined her. "You're still tired?" Sakura indeed looked sleep-deprived, with baggy eyes and a blank look. Odd: she had slept for eighteen hours straight. And Sakura would never act illness to fish for sympathy. She was a serious medical ninja.

In any case, if she really felt bad, she probably needed a bowl of soup and a rest in bed. Dipping her own self into a pool of hot, comfortable water would have to wait. She might fall asleep in it.

'If you're _that _worried about her falling asleep during a bath,' something in Sasuke commented, 'you could accompany her yourself.'

The Uchiha immediately silenced the outrageous voice with a mind-clamp. He then duct-taped it, and threw it in the sea of completely random and useless thoughts.

Sakura gave a weak wave to Sasuke. "See you later. I can take care of myself." Sakura ambled out of the alley, and towards her own neighborhood. Alone.

Then again, Sasuke decided, he could at least watch over her walk to ensure her safety. He walked to her side, and quietly escorted her out of the district.

Sakura noticed the looming shadow of her former teammate. But she was too tired to rebuke him. And it was a good thing to have some protection. The kunoichi decided that Sasuke might not be as much of a jackass as she thought.

'She looks quite nice, even when she's a mess.'

In the plane of Sasuke's thoughts, the strange voice had wiggled itself back onto shore.

* * *

Several ninja clad in dark-blue looked down upon the genin at the gates of Konohagakure.

"There are more entered this time over than usual. That means we'll have to work more..."

"You idiot!" another hissed. "That's what we're here for, remember? Most of those kids are desperate creatures. Once we get them into the Forest of Death..."

"Quiet." The leader of the three silenced her colleagues. "Don't speak any more about it. There is supposedly some sort of filtering agent going through the Chuunin Exams. We have to be careful."

The first shinobi chuckled. "You think it could be the Priestess of Souls herself? To think that she'd react at this point in time..."

"It's a possibility," the leader murmured. An extreme burst of holy ki had recently been sighted in the country. And there had also been several upheavals against their organization, especially in their efforts to collect potential soldiers. Who knew? Maybe the Priestess was a well-connected woman who could walk into any of the exams as a non-participant. Maybe she was a highly-skilled jounin or chuunin, who managed to oversee each one. Or maybe she was a just playing the part of a genin in the Chuunin Exams. That would be interesting. Not to mention laughable.

"Well. Someone so powerful would at least come to see the final round of the tournament." The lady commander fingered a kunai lovingly.

The other ninja pulled out an inrou, and cracked it apart. He pulled out a bluish-purple marble, which pulsed with a strange aura. "The powers of the Priestess are supposedly unique among aura-users." He tightened his fingers around the item, enjoying the vibrations coming out from the item. "So what should we do if we find her? Take her head?"

"Don't be so barbaric," his leader snapped. "She could be useful for something else, especially with those abilities."

"Which are practically _worthless_," the other finished. "C'mon, only _now_ she's displayed some burst of aura? What kind of priestess is she?"

"She is not our main target." The commander put away her kunai. "Right now, we need the other genin — and if the Priestess goes in to pick them up, then she's just an added bonus."

* * *

"Hey, Sasuke, take a look at this." Naruto gestured to Sasuke.

The raven-haired chuunin walked over, and looked at Naruto was reading in the library. "Spirit-sealing?" Sasuke asked. His voice lowered. "Didn't Warashi say that we're supposed to kill youkai?"

"Well, demon-slaying is an area I haven't found specific jutsu for, just yet," Naruto said sheepishly. "But even if we find something, we might possibly encounter demons that are too strong to kill. That's why we should learn about sealing. Like how the Yondaime did it."

'Oh, yeah, the Hokage that looks freakishly like you,' Sasuke grumped inside. The raven-haired ninja quietly swore that if he heard just one more person comment on how much Naruto looked like the Yondaime, he was going to scream. "Didn't he die because of that stunt?"

"And saved the village!" Naruto added defensively. "Anyway, this is the only scroll I've found on youkai. It only covers sealing. I'm pretty sure if we look deeper into the library, we'll find ways to exterminate demons, too...We can't make Hinata do _all_ the work, you know." A goofy sort of smile spread across his face at the thought of the sweet girl.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he looked at the complex hand-seals. 'Damn, I need to get Kakashi or someone to teach me how to work out jutsu-equations.'

Naruto held out a scroll to him. "Oh, and Sasuke, could you borrow this scroll from the library, and lend it to me?"

The Uchiha gave Naruto a weird look. "Why don't you take it out under your own name?" Sasuke asked. "You're registered."

Naruto glanced at the librarian, who shot him an icy look. "I just have a hunch that they'd trust the knowledge of demon-sealing in your hands rather than mine..."

Sasuke was confused. From his point of view, he was the one with the dirty track record. The most extreme things Naruto did against the state was — defacing the Hokage Monument, and being tricked into stealing a scroll. In contrast, Sasuke had abandoned the Leaf and joined the Sound. There was simply no comparison.

Naruto sweated. "Please, Sasuke?"

"Don't lose it, or the blame will go on me," Sasuke threatened.

* * *

Sakura yanked open her closet. Her hands dove into the basket of scrolls, and fished out three. The kunoichi threw two on the bed, next to her medical gear. Sakura walked up to her desk and rolled out the third scroll. Taking out notebooks and a pencil, she began to write.

On the day after tomorrow, the first part of the Chuunin Exams would launch.

Sakura heard several taps on her window. Her pencil halted. The pink-haired kunoichi put it down. Sakura got up, and walked over to the balcony door. A gust of wind flew through her room as she opened it.

"Good evening."

A young man in hunter's clothing, his blonde hair back in a green tie, sat on Sakura's balcony. He gave a gentle smile.

Sakura blinked. "Minoru-san?" She glanced at Minoru's masculine-looking clothing, and frowned. "Which gender are you assigned as in your passport?" she crossly asked. "Konoha ninja are not to be fooled easily."

Minoru smiled. "Oh, I am not so sure about that. I think we will have a little amusement with the instructors during our assignment together." He pulled out a folded piece of paper, and edged it to Sakura.

Sakura frantically waved her hands in front of her, trying not to see what was printed. "Minoru-san, those cheat-sheets never work! I know the first part is a written exam, but what you're really supposed to do is—"

The blond groaned. "It's not the answers. They're the names of our examiners." Minoru thrust the paper in front of Sakura's green eyes.

Sakura carefully read. She blinked at what she saw. "Oh gods. Sasuke and Naruto are two of the examiners of the first part."

Minoru gave a wry smile. "Ironic, isn't it?"

"This will be hard," Sakura said with a nervous bite on her lip. "It's a small chance that we'll make it past them."

"Oh, but we will. And we will have fun." Minoru gave a low laugh. The blond leaned into Sakura. "With your looks, I can hand over some tricks of the trade to you easily."

The pink-haired girl appeared puzzled. Looks?

Minoru sighed. "You're a kunoichi, aren't you? Think of the art of distraction."

* * *

Notes:

"inrou" - a wooden box, used to hold hanko (stamp-seal used for one's own signature) and other small items. A small cord held it together, and made it hand from the waist.

Okay, I want to ask the readers on what kind of skills Naruto and Sasuke should have for their new... ehem, job. Should they be weapons, new jutsu, or what? I need help!

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	8. Mixed Teams

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Damn, now my best friend is reading my fanfiction. I was determined to keep it secret from him. But no: he had to go all honey-mouthed and lavish praises to wrench the truth out of me. Honestly, working on these stories is one of my guilty pleasures. My other guilty pleasure is making readers wait. (I'm kidding; I'm kidding!)

Thedarkowns: yes, please eat me, if I think that's what I think it means! (Don't take it seriously. Feel free to slap me.)

x

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

-Writing-

(( Flashback ))

x

Chapter 8: Mixed Teams

* * *

A bored-looking jounin held out a scroll in front of him. "Welcome to the Chuunin Exams." He peered over the head of the paper with a critical eye, studying the collection of genin crammed into the classroom in front of him. He yawned before he proceeded to continue. "You are here because you were selected for the international mixed-group effort." He sneered. "In other words, you're probably leftovers."

The ninja shot glares of death at the jounin.

'Is this proctor suicidal?' Sakura knew perfectly well that the Leaf ninja was only making fun of them to start the test jitters, but such a cheap trick as calling them 'leftovers' seemed futile. All the genin in this room had supposedly been hand-selected by their respective villages — to not only take the Chuunin exams, but also to take it with strangers. Whether they were the best shinobi was yet to be proven. But they sure as hell were the scariest. No doubt, to cast a bit of fear into their foreign teammates. Hauling in their flashiest to intimidate foreigners, and allow their might to shine into other villages through words of traumatized genin: that was international diplomacy at its best.

Well, it was presumed that their personalities were good enough to promote teamwork. Otherwise, the whole idea of mixed teams would be a drain of human resources for any village sending in genin for the program. Any backstabbing until the final stages of the exam would prove disadvantageous for anybody who wished to advance.

"Listen carefully as I call out the cell numbers, and your names for each cell," the jounin instructed. "Hold up your hand when your name is called so that your teammates can find you. Team One..."

Sakura studied the array of people around her. 'I must look like a flower in the middle of a grass patch.' Her tongue carefully pushed away a drop of syrup from the sweet dango she had snacked on earlier. 'And I can't say less for my teammates.'

"...Minoru, Haruno Sakura, and Kawanami Hiromi."

Sakura jerked into the real world again. Minoru entered himself, as himself? Well, it was not his real name per se... Minoru was just his nickname; his complete magical title was too difficult to pronounce for any human, at least in this world. But that was his _real_ nickname nonetheless! Spy or no spy.

"... Haruno-san?" The proctor raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Oh!" Sakura immediately shot her hand up. Even though she already knew Minoru and Potamos, she had to hold the act that this was her first encounter with them.

Sakura glanced at Minoru, now draped in dark-green, loose clothing. The pink-haired kunoichi gulped in nervousness as Minoru gave her a gentle smile. His blonde hair seemed to wave with light — damn, that would attract _trouble_ when the exams actually started! The majority of the selected genin were male, and looked at least twenty years old (although they were probably younger; the pressure of battle could quickly age anybody). With their scars, and ugly glares towards the jounin instructor, the genin looked morbid and threatening.

Potamos had her feet on the desk, her purple ninja suit tight over her small frame. Now that kind of image Sakura found convincing. Potamos looked something of a kunoichi, at least in terms of dress. The black and purple in her hair was a little bizarre, but it probably helped her blend into dark places. The small girl looked absolutely unfazed at the sneers heading in her direction. She looked very cute, with her swirled hair up in two short pigtails. A pair of headphones cupped her ears; she bounced in her seat to the music. This was normal behavior for her.

Sakura sighed. Potamos, even though she picked out the right attire for the occasion, still acted childish. And Minoru kept acting the beautiful deity.

And what the _hell_ was with the thing that Minoru picked out for Sakura? Only the previous night, he just shows up on her balcony and hands her a... a dress, which no kunoichi would wear unless for undercover purposes!

"Dismissed!"

Sakura groaned as she pulled herself up from the stiff desk. The medic-nin then heard suspicious skips behind her. She ducked.

Potamos cruised through the air above Sakura. Since the pathways in between the desks were crammed with genin, the purple-haired girl decided to skip her way to Sakura on the desks, and hug her from behind.

Sakura, of course, thought this move was a bit too suggestive of previous intimacy, and evaded the embrace. Too bad that she had failed to remember the desks in front of her.

Potamos immediately crashed into a desk, and toppled over it. A great thud sounded out.

The surrounding ninja stared at the purple-haired girl's crumpled form. That was a kunochi from the Hidden Rain? She looked no more than twelve years old, and not very wise in the ways of desk stability. She was selected to be here? Gods, it seemed like their village really _was_ in dire straights.

Potamos rubbed her head. "Owie! Sa—"

Sakura coughed loudly, and gave a piercing look over Potamos, as if mentally telling her: 'Do NOT use the nickname you gave me.'

"...Sakura-san, that was an awesome evasion of my tackle!" Potamos exclaimed, awe shining in her brown eyes. "You're worthy of being my teammate!" Sakura grinned as she helped the purple-haired girl back up on her feet.

Minoru wiped a drop of sweat off a brow. 'That was a close shave, Devil-child.'

* * *

(("Hinata-neechan?"

Zashiki Warashi shyly fidgeted, his right foot absentmindedly scratched the left one.

"Hi, Warashi-chan," Hinata greeted. With her legs folded neatly underneath in a traditional sitting position, she turned her head to the sound of the echoing voice. "How are you?"

"Okay," Warashi answered. "Um, are you free tomorrow morning? There's something I need to show you. Can you meet me at the little shrine in the woods at seven o'clock?" ))

* * *

Hinata bit her lower lip, nervous. She had arrived at the chapel-like structure about ten minutes ago. Zashiki Warashi had asked her to meet him at the roofed, roadside Kannon statue near the training grounds. Here she was, just as he had asked. Yet there was no sign of the ghost-child.

For most people, being ten minutes late was really not that bad. It was certainly better than some people. Naruto had often complained — and still complained — about his former teacher Kakashi's sense of punctuality, which frankly was nothing at all.

But how could Warashi be late? The spirit had the ability to teleport himself over long distances. He could not be sleeping in late, for he never slept. As a ghost, he did not have much of a schedule in anything.

Hinata flicked on her Byakugan, and scanned the hundred-meter radius around her. The kunoichi decided to review some Juuken moves until Warashi actually arrived. She smoothly positioned her arms, and began to turn them around her. Quiet thrusts and jabs flew through the air.

After a while, Hinata felt a bit of lactic acid tickling her muscles. She looked at her watch, and saw that five more minutes had passed.

Only three hundred seconds of exercising, and she already felt tired? 'I need to train more for stamina...' Hinata decided to stretch a bit before resuming her exercises.

Hinata glanced around for what seemed the _n_th time. Where exactly was that spirit?

She groaned. 'Warashi-chan can sure test people's patience...'

Hinata looked up at the Kannon statue. The Bodhisattva of eternal mercy was ever in a peaceful state, her stone hand curling into a relaxed sort of greeting. Stories said that sweet ambrosia dripped from the goddess' fingers to the lowest depths of hell.

'Please help Warashi-chan come safely.' Hinata silently prayed, even though it seemed kind of pointless. Warashi would be okay. Ghosts did not get in trouble... did they?

After paying her respects, Hinata walked several meters away from the shrine, and resumed her exercises.

Five more minutes passed.

Hinata sagged on the ground, panting from her brisk workout. Why did she grow so tired, so quickly? Reserves of chakra tended to be highest right after a good sleep and a complete breakfast, both of which she already had taken. Hinata was regularly a morning person.

The Hyuuga quieted down her breathing. Her dark hair stuck to her forehead in sweat.

She realized that this place was not normal. Something nearby was sapping her strength.

Hinata observed the Kannon statue on the pedestal. As she contemplated it, there were shades of darkness under the deity's closed eyes. Instead of feeling warm and protected, Hinata felt scrutinized under the stone idol's gaze.

Hinata turned away in nervousness. 'It's just a statue that _represents_ Kannon-sama! Don't let it bother you...'

Warashi was twenty-five minutes late.

Hinata looked back into the face of the Bodhisattva. That was strange: the slight dark circles under Kannon's eyes had not been there before. Hinata had seen this statue hundreds of times throughout her life. This was not the same stone piece.

Hinata's eyes turned a bright white. 'Byakugan; second stage!'

Her vision plunged into a system of spiritual energy. As Hinata looked around her, she noticed a pungent odor. A strange aura was surrounding the Kannon statue.

Hinata's white eyes looked more closely at it — and saw into it.

Vertigo hit her mind. Her eyes began to sting with all the chakra she was using. The kunoichi held her balance as her vision probed into the statue. A dark blue tunnel seemed to warp and waver within the folds of stone.

"Hinata-neechan!"

Within the dark recesses of nowhere, Warashi kicked and screamed for the priestess. Something akin to a fluid and slick gas embraced over the little boy, tying him up. The already-thin image of the ghost-child seemed to flick on and off from the dark-blue mass.

Hinata, trying not to panic, focused on what was trapping Warashi. And where exactly was that place? It seemed to be _inside_ the statue — but it was impossible in terms of the normal three dimensions. "Warashi-chan!" Hinata called out. She was seriously frightened and worried. What kind of thing could actually grab a hold of a ghost?

Maybe the image of the trapped Warashi she saw was only a mirage. Perhaps an evil spirit was attempting to trick her.

But the boy looked real. It was exact same spiritual energy as Hinata had seen before in him. If there was one thing one could not fake, it was personality. That was definitely Zashiki Warashi.

Hinata carefully adjusted her eyes to partially come back in the real world — at least, where her body was. Her physical body was right in front of the statue, she reminded herself.

The priestess still needed to adjust to the Sight. This was just a repeat of her childhood, back to the point in time when her normal Byakugan had first awakened. The little Hinata had been so dazzled and confused by the unusual 360-degree vision that she had immediately fainted on the spot (in front of practically all her relatives, she might add).

Right. Those things strapped within the sandals were her feet. These things were called hands.

Hinata carefully willed herself to climb up, close to the statue, trying to keep her attention on Warashi while still controlling her own biology in the real world. Her hands numbly trailed them over the stone, trying to find some sort of physical opening.

"Don't come in, Hinata-neechan; it's a trap!" Warashi screamed to Hinata.

Through the wraithlike tunnel, Hinata saw a tidal wave of dark-blue ki rush towards her. For a brief second, she saw the mass of energy form into something animalistic. Hard eyes, and what seemed like a beak, formed through the lines of overlapping fog.

The terrible screech of a hawk shot through her senses.

Hinata gave out a terrified squeak as she pushed away a wave of dark-blue aura with her glowing hand. She quickly pushed herself off the statue, and jumped away before the wave completely enveloped her.

The Hyuuga girl's eyes swirled white. She was exhausted. She had not realized, until now, exactly how much control was required for this Sight. She looked up at the Kannon statue: a powerful aura of a midnight blue oozed from every inch of its surface.

"What are you doing with Warashi-chan?" Hinata shouted out. A tremor of fear went down her spine as she saw how much actual chakra radiated from the stone medium.

"Leave this ghost to me," a voice from the idol spoke. The lips were not moving, but the eyes glowed eerily. "Step down, Priestess, and let me handle this child."

"What are you doing?" Hinata asked, this time more demanding. She was surprised at her boldness in speaking up to a goddess. Or at least, what seemed like one. "...I... As the Priestess of Souls, I... I _demand_ an explanation!" she burst out.

The aura from the statue slightly calmed down. "This ghost has committed many sins," it said gravely. "It was only sooner or later when he would be caught. Withdraw, or you shall die."

Hinata quivered. Her head lowered. "I see."

"Good child," the voice said gently. Soon, the blue aura was reduced to nothing more than a feint glow from the statue. "Now be an obedient girl, and leave him to Kannon."

Hinata looked up, her white eyes flashing. "You're not her."

A nervous bubble of energy emitted from the statue. "Child?" it asked hesitantly.

Something new and bold grew within the petite Hyuuga heiress. "Kannon is the protector of women and children, as well as the goddess of Mercy!" Hinata argued. "If you really were the ideal of compassion, then you wouldn't kidnap Warashi-chan and punish him. And you certainly wouldn't threaten me!"

Around the statue's face, waves of aura curled upward into something of a malicious grin. "I see... So you saw through my disguise. You are indeed the Priestess of Souls."

The blue energy swirled at the foot of the statue, concentrating itself into a pinpoint. The dot slowly grew into a circle, inflating slowly like a blown-up balloon. It was a tunnel leading directly to where Warashi was. The ghost was not bound in ropes of sapping aura anymore — it was more like the ghasty fog was melding around him.

"Come in, Priestess, if you want to save your little ghost," the voice laughed. "Do you dare put yourself in it?"

As Hinata peered into the entrance, she noticed how it dark and creepy it was. It was as long as a waterslide — but there was no water, and had a rocky surface. The end of it did not look too inhabitable. In fact, there were a few humanoid skulls littered about.

Warashi's voice echoed through the tunnel. "Don't do it, Hinata-neechan! This is a realm of spirits! I'll be fine; I can get out of it! But if you enter remain in here too long, you'll fade away!"

Hinata gulped. 'But if you're not with me, I won't be able to get your help, Warashi-chan,' she thought. She kneeled down, and carefully inserted her legs into the hole. 'And the gods know I can't abandon you.'

Her body slid through the dark tunnel.

The exit plugged itself off.

* * *

Naruto felt a sudden chill. His right hand nervously rubbed his left shoulder. Something terrible had happened; he just could feel it.

**'You felt it, too, whelp?'**

Okay, there was a good confirmation that something drastic had occurred.

Sasuke noticed the fidgeting of his teammate. "Nervous for the exams, too?" he asked.

"Which ones?" Naruto huffed. He and Sasuke were proctoring the Chuunin Exams, in which they were going to have to look over Sakura's performance — and after that, they themselves had to take entrance exams for ANBU classes. Of course, Sasuke was already getting some tutoring from Kakashi, but he needed to know how the official system worked. Naruto said that he was just doing it for 'fun'.

Naruto sighed. "I think I'm hyped up about both..." he said. "You know that Sakura is in one of the mixed teams?"

"She'll be okay. I just hope that her teammates will be competent enough."

Naruto's ears perked up. "You _hope_? You hope that she'll join the chuunin ranks?"

"Obviously," Sasuke said in a montone. "She's been a genin long enough."

"You want to work with her again, don'tcha?" Naruto asked teasingly. "I'll see you soon, Sasuke." He got up, and began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked sharply. The first part of the Chuunin Exams would start in fifteen minutes.

Naruto waved it off. "I just need to check something out. I'll be there on time." He flung open a window, and jumped out.

Sasuke watched Naruto's black-and-orange form blur on the rooftops. 'Morino Ibiki is going to kill him if he's late.'

* * *

Sakura nervously tugged at the end of her dress. For the first part of the exams, she was wearing something rather unusual. It was a silk, Chinese-style green dress, with black embroidery at its ends. Long and beautiful, two slits on the sides gave any viewer a very slight taste of her creamy white legs.

Sakura's face lightly blushed in embarrassment as she made her way to her designated seat. Leering faces turned in her direction. 'I feel like a slut in this place!' her thoughts screamed.

At the back of the room, Minoru and Potamos observed their pink-haired teammate. "She looks wonderful, don't you think?" Minoru commented. The purple-haired girl nodded enthusiastically.

Sakura noticed that her desk was at the side of the classroom. So Minoru was right: she was going to sit near some of the examiners.

This was _not_ going to work, Sakura decided. She had insisted, begged, even cried to Minoru not to make her wear the dress.

A shadow fell upon Sakura. Some ninja were passing her desk to get to their own seats.

Without warning, the pink-haired genin felt a light squeeze on her waist. There was a hand on her. By instinct, chakra filled up Sakura's arm muscles, and the kunoichi grabbed the insulting limb.

* * *

(( "There's no way in _hell_ they'd fall for that!" Sakura said, disgusted.

Minoru held up the dress. "It's just for the, quote-on-quote, written exam."

"This won't work," Sakura intoned. Despite her skepticism, the kunoichi grabbed the wondrous clothing and held it to her frame. It looked like it would fit...

"Make sure you practice your seating," Minoru instructed. "Contrary to popular belief, males do have aesthetic sensibilities. Especially when it comes to female anatomy." Sakura gave him a revolted face. "Don't scorn it. Use it." The blond gave a reassuring smile to the pink-haired teenager. "If they do anything improper, I can strangle them for you." ))

* * *

A sickening crack was heard. A ninja from the Hidden Cloud fell down at Sakura's feet, shrieking in pain and clutching his shoulder.

Sakura's green eyes coldly looked down at the man. "Don't touch me."

The shinobi shot the kunoichi a glare. "You broke my arm, Bitch!"

"Actually, I only dislocated it," Sakura mused. The medic-nin roughly grabbed his shoulder and pushed the joint back in its socket, making him scream once more.

"Silence!"

Sakura let go, letting the genin drop onto the floor.

The front of the room burst into a cloud of smoke. Several chuunin and one jounin appeared from the mist. Sasuke and Naruto were there among the chuunin proctors, towering the others with their charisma.

Morino Ibiki glared at Sakura, who simply kicked away the genin with her foot. "If there is any killing before the exams, you will immediately be disqualified."

"No killing?" Potamos asked in a disappointed tone.

Minoru smirked. 'Not yet, Devil-child.'

* * *

Notes:

"Kannon" - Japanese name for "Kuan Yin" (also written as "Guan Yin", "Kwan Yin"), the bodhisattva of mercy and compassion. Kuan Yin is short of "Kuan Shih Yin", which means 'Observing the Sounds of the World'. She is depicted as a woman in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, but her Indian identity is "Avalokitesvara", who is shown often as a man (a prince, to be exact).

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	9. Sabotage

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

It's been difficult keeping up with the updating. I've been getting hooked on a few manga, like Flame of Recca and Marmalade Boy. I didn't notice — until now — how many of the "cool, mature men" (usually in side-kick positions) of anime often have names starting with 'mi'. There's Miroku from Inuyasha, and Mikagami from FoR... And I guess Minoru can be jammed with them, too! Coincidence? Perhaps. Even though Minoru is my own character. He's the only one I own. :sigh:

That means that I don't own Potamos.

x

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

-Writing-

(( Flashback ))

x

Chapter 9: Sabotage

* * *

"I know some of you have already heard the basic rules, whether this is your fourth, eighth, or twentieth time taking this."

If there was any insult directed at Sakura, she did not react to it.

"But I make this clear again," Morino Ibiki went on. "There will be no killing in this room. Those morons who outright disobey will be _erased_." His harsh eyes bore into the genin. "And not just from the paper, I might add."

Half of the young shinobi gulped under his menacing gaze.

Sakura, instead of looking directly at the examiners, only imagined their heads as a meaningless blank. Direct eye contact was the first step towards being nervous — and Ibiki surely trained the proctors to glare right. 'The only exception would be Sasuke,' Sakura added, 'because he's probably just smirking at me.'

Had Sakura paid more attention, she would have noticed a scowl plastered on the avenger's face. Uchiha Sasuke was looking at her rich attire in distain.

Morino Ibiki picked up the chalk, and began to write. "Rule number one: One point for each question answered accurately. For every question wrong, or left blank, no points. A totally blank test is, of course, a zero. We won't allow any brainless idiots to pass beyond this point." Ibiki shot a certain blond proctor a knowing grin.

Naruto twitched in response. Yes, back when he first took the Chuunin Exams, Naruto had been the only one to have a blank sheet to the very end — and he only passed because he had been a stubborn jackass. Naruto flicked Ibiki off when the sadist wasn't looking.

Sakura folded her hands, thinking over. So the rules were slightly different this year. 'Wouldn't a regular test format make things too easy?' she wondered.

"Rule number two: the test is a team effort. Each team will compete to see how many points they can earn."

Minoru's blue eyes narrowed. 'This is too lax. If just one person from a cell gets one question right — all three will pass.'

"Rule number three," Ibiki chalked down the instructions, "If any of the proctors find you cheating, each offense negates two points from your test score. If you reach five counts, you obviously would get an automatic zero on your individual test. In that situation, the proctor will call out your number, and you will leave peacefully."

Silence.

Ibiki coughed. "Finally, rule number four. Because this is a team event, if one genin gets a zero or is disqualified... your two other teammates will automatically fail with you, regardless of their individual performance."

An uproar of complaints burst out. One plumpish genin got up from his seat. "That's ridiculous! It's not fair to the other two if there is one bad apple in the group—"

His complaining was drowned out immediately by an ear-piercing screech. Ibiki's chalk ran over the board at a perfect right angle, making everybody shudder and wince into silence.

"Shut up, you fat pig." Ibiki's deep voice echoed off the dark slate, resounding into class like the voice of a thunder-god. "This is _my_ exam, and _I_ make the rules." He threw the chalk back down on the holder, and slowly turned around. "Those caught cheating will only destroy themselves. As genin trying to advance to chuunin level: be a proud shinobi."

* * *

Sakura rubbed her forehead, attempting to push out the migraine. Ever since the trip to the shrine, she had felt wanting of sleep. Even her talk with Minoru last night had ended abruptly. The blond had needed to lift her up, and tuck her into bed.

Uh-oh. If Minoru had been careless, Sakura's parents might find traces of her companion in her room. Hopefully there were no dirt tracks or stray hairs lying around. If they ever found out that a man had visited her room in the dead of night... Well, wasn't as if Sakura's parents would be terribly upset if she had a respectable — er, somewhat respectable — visitor. They would simply be curious of why a ninja from the Grass sneaked to her balcony for the sole reason of speaking with her, instead of going into the house in a more regular fashion, like the front door. They would also ask about his tastes in clothing.

Sakura counted the number of genin in the room. The test-taking area was enormous. In fact, it was the combination of the two largest classrooms of the academy; they simply had the removable wall taken down for this occasion.

When Sakura took the Chuunin exam years ago, there had been fifty-one teams. But this year, the total number of seemed to be a hundred.

(( " Four desperate souls are needed for one stage of youkai evolution. Sixteen is needed for the second stage. In other words, each square of two makes a supernatural exponentially stronger." ))

Sakura looked down at her dress. She then glanced at the chuunin proctors. Some turned away, embarrassed that they had been caught staring at her. Four others were not paying attention to her; they had their eyes on other genin, taking their jobs seriously. And the last proctor had his eyes closed. Sasuke.

Sakura went back to intently contemplating the surface of the desk. So Sasuke was indifferent to her, a good thing. While waiting for the paper exams to be passed down, she looked at the graffiti and scratch marks of previous Ninja Academy students. Phrases like 'I like so-and-so' and 'Sensei is an idiot' bit through the wood: termite holes, filled with honey-like memories.

On one corner of the desk, a phrase was legibly scratched in. -I like Sasuke-kun!- No name was signed.

A red tint crept over her cheeks. Sakura remembered exactly who wrote it. She knew the writer better than anyone else.

The pink-haired young woman looked to the side. At the corner of Sasuke's mouth was the tiniest hint of a sneer.

(( "You really are annoying." ))

CRACK.

It took a moment for Sakura to notice the searing pain in her hand. The pencil she held was now reduced to splinters of wood and crushed graphite. Great. As destiny would have it, she would have both a broken pencil and a jerk of a former crush to deal with in these exams.

As Sakura look at the demolished item in horror, a light snort escaped Sasuke's nose. The kunoichi shot back a glare. Sasuke turned away with a satisfied look on his face.

Blood pumped through Sakura's veins. Not from fear, not from nervousness, but from pure indignation. 'Damn you, Sasuke,' her thoughts speared at him. 'So you're conspiring against me? You knew this was my previous seat in the Academy, and want to rub the past in my face? Well, since you and Morino Ibiki are so eager to harass me, I WILL pass this part of the exams, whether you like it our not! Heartless bastard. Die. Just die.'

Luckily, the pink-haired kunoichi could calm down. She had a spare pencil, after all. 'Plus, I have to think about this body of students,' she mentally added. 'With the weak rules Morino-san is giving this year, I'd say that even one-third of this place might get into the Forest of Death. That would mean one hundred genin... Holy shit.'

"Once you have a copy of the test, begin immediately."

* * *

Minoru frowned as he scanned through the mass of genin. They all looked suspicious, no doubt about that. None of these people were normal. If they had had any childhood in the past, it had been squashed flat long ago.

But he did notice a couple of groups that seemed rather... eerie. Being squeezed in a large mass of humans hustling into a classroom was something Minoru did not wish to experience again — but the ordeal had given him tidbits of information. Brushing by the others had helped him to begin identifying their aura types. He kept a mental note on the kunoichi with black rosary beads tied around her right wrist.

The problem was, Minoru could not know for sure until he witnessed the genin in full battle-mode. And this classroom was the least likely place where such beings would reveal themselves.

'The real problem, however,' Minoru thought, 'is that there are too many genin here.' The blond lifted his wrist to his lips, and whispered several words. Something yellow glowed under his green sleeve.

Five rows in front, Potamos tapped her headphones.

Minoru smiled as the papers landed into his hand. Under his fist was hidden a teardrop-bottle, full of a blue substance. The blond slipped his left hand underneath the top flap of the papers. He squeezed slightly — several drops of the liquid penetrated the tests underneath, before drying out and disappearing. Minoru took the clean top sheet, and handed the rest over to his neighbor.

"Good luck," the blond muttered.

His neighbor mysteriously smiled back to him. "Good luck to you, too." His face let off a know-it-all air. "You'll need it."

Minoru raised an eyebrow.

The boy turned away. He scribbled his name onto the test in a furious manner, and then began to read the questions. From the corner of his eye, Minoru studied him intently.

The brown-haired kid held a perfectly calm demeanor as he read through the first question. He lifted his pencil to his chin, as if deep in thought.

'Closer...' Minoru prayed. The pencil's top touched the boy's lower lip. 'A little closer...'

The kid bit his pencil. A strange look passed his face, and his eyelids began to droop.

'Finally,' Minoru thought as his neighbor slumped forward.

The boy's pencil clattered to the floor. Several of the chuunin proctors jumped in their seats, looking nervous. Ibiki glared at them.

Minoru smirked. That supposed-genin next to him was already out. While Minoru passed the tests over to his deskmate with his right hand, his left hand used the paper's shadow to secretly drip some of the blue liquid onto the boy's pencil.

And what was even better: even if the chuunin proctors had witnessed that, they wouldn't be able to do a thing against Minoru. Why? _Because nobody in the room had written out any answers yet._

The blond tapped the side of the desk with his pencil, two times. That was the signal to start Plan B.

* * *

Several rows away, Potamos scratched the side of her cheek. She and Minoru had a full hour to do this right. 'No killing, huh... Well, it would be rather boring to do it on defenseless kids like these.'

Two taps sounded through the room: Minoru's signal. A cute smile flashed across Potamos' face. 'Commence Operation Elimination!'

The black-and-purple-haired girl rolled her head, allowing her neck to make cracking sounds. She folded her hands and stretched her arms forward. When she let go, her fingers were already antsy for the coming spell.

'Double, double, toil and trouble, textbooks burn and kid-brains bubble!'

Those were not the words needed for an actual spell — but chanting them out in her mind helped Potamos warm up a bit. She always liked to get herself ready before stirring up chaos into surrounding areas. Especially when it was a large number of human kids, all crammed into this stuffy double-classroom. Not only the test jitters, but cabin fever as well? This was going to be a heyday!

As long as she didn't mess it up.

The pigtailed girl closed her brown eyes. 'Okay, Sacchan, time to show you my aura-control skills that you helped me on.'

Potamos took in a deep breath. As she held it, the air collected within her lungs turned icy. A breathy, cold whisper escaped her lips, forming strange words in an inhumane sort of language. _"Ice mirror collage."_

* * *

Sakura wanted to groan out loud as she read the test. Jutsu-equations. Out of the array of possible topics to select from in the shinobi arts — weapon mechanics and physics, political history, tactics — they chose jutsu-equations.

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. 'These questions are so... basic.' Giving this to her was like handing an algebra assignment to a calculus student.

Of course, Sakura noted, she wasn't supposed to know this stuff. Only specialized jounin took the trouble to get into theory like this. Sakura wasn't even sure if it was completely accurate as a science. This area was only dealt with by people trying to invent new techniques. Kakashi was the leading expert of it in the village.

Sakura sighed. It was kind of pathetic. The second time she attends the Konoha Chuunin Exams, and again they give her something she can actually do.

Sakura glanced to the side. The proctors had not begun to mark their clipboards. A few of them appeared to have a blank look as they looked in her direction. What exactly was so interesting about the genin particularly in her area? And why did Sasuke look so angry?

Maybe they liked the view.

View? It seemed like they were studying something on the floor around Sakura. The chair legs? No. Her ankles?

Oh, right. Legs.

Sakura again wanted to groan. She decided that if she was going to be leered at, she might as well shove it in the chuunin's faces by remaining proud and dignified through these sixty minutes. She only had to ignore them and do this test. She did not have to worry about Minoru and Potamos. Everything would be fine. There were ten total questions; Sakura could do this alone.

Her pencil began to do its job.

The first question was complete within one minute. Sakura smiled. 'As long as I keep going without cheating, the chuunin will have nothing on me.' A gloomy thought interrupted her inner ranting. 'Besides, it's not as if this passing this written test would really prove me as a shinobi. I'm only solving these problems on my own because math is easier for me than espionage.'

As Sakura continued to work out the problems like a human calculator, she felt something unusual. Within the skirt of her dress, cold air tickled her bare legs.

The kunoichi examined the back of her hand. Her skin there was almost always dry because of her duties. But now it seemed... unusually flaky. She could literally feel the tiny wounds open up as the skin tightened around flesh.

Sakura felt cold. To be exact, the humidity and temperature of the room seemed to have dropped by several points. She glanced up.

Amidst the crooks and crevices of the ceiling, several panes of what looked like mirrors floated in thin air.

One thought flashed through Sakura's mind: Potamos.

That little water-demon.

Sakura looked back down at her test, and continued to work, trying not to mind that a huge slab of ice wafted directly above her head. 'If you want to cheat off of me, Potamos, fine. But don't be too obvious!'

A thump was heard. Sakura looked to the far right. One genin was lying with his face down on the desk. Had he fainted? If this was going to be an emergency situation, then this whole exam was going to be canceled. Shit.

A light snore escaped his lips. The shinobi around him laughed quietly before resuming their activities. Sakura only sighed in relief. In a normal setting, she would have to go up and perform First Aid. The guy was just sleeping.

Drip.

Sakura circled the final answer for the third question. She stretched, trying to get blood to circulate faster.

The medical ninja yawned.

Oh, but a bed sounded so nice.

Drip. Drip.

Sakura began to dream of a hot bath, with scrubbing all the dirt and death from her body. Shampoo, and a foot rub... On rare occasion, Sakura and her mother would give each other back massages after missions.

She read the next problem. - Question Four: the hand-seals for a certain jutsu are given underneath. Identify what type of jutsu it is, and give your proof using analytical reasoning. -

Sakura licked her lips. 'Answer: this is probably a kinjutsu, because the hand-seals are leading to a large, unstable fireball. Kaboom.' Instead of writing her juvenile thoughts out on the paper, she wrote down the logical proof of why it was a trick question.

Drip. Drip.

Thump.

Sakura's wrist slowed down. She did not dare turn her head to see what it was, in case the proctors mistook her glancing around as a form of sloppy peeking. Besides, she was too tired to concentrate on anything but the test.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Thump.

Sakura blinked. Was that _another_ genin falling asleep? 'It seems like there are more genjutsu-users this year than usual. Maybe using something similar to Ino's Shintenshin no Jutsu...'

As the kunoichi stared at the test, the print blurred double. Her eyelids grew heavy.

Plop.

Suddenly, Sakura sensed a chakra-filled object falling from above. Her head looked up — then her green eyes widened in horror. The kunoichi covered her head and ducked.

A liter of water fell on Sakura.

It took all her self-control not to squawk out from the chill. The surrounding genin jerked in surprise. The chuunin examiners started at the wet splash.

Sakura gave off a tiny, mouse-like sneeze. Chuckles simmered around her, coming from test-takers and proctors alike. Sasuke twitched.

Sakura carefully got herself up from the wet desk. The kunoichi sighed in relief when she saw her test still dry: she had crouched just in time to shield the paper with her upper torso. With a slight blush on her cheeks, Sakura gave an embarrassed smile, as if apologizing for her own clumsiness.

The goosebumps prickled her skin. That cold shower certainly made her more alert. Sakura gave an annoyed look in Potamos' direction. The purple-haired girl blushed furiously, waving her hand to Sakura in apology. 'Whatever,' Sakura thought. 'Just don't do it again.'

One minute later —

"DAAAAAHHH!" The person who sat three seats in front of Sakura jumped in his seat, slightly drenched. The look on his face was of absolute horror. He had good reason to have it, too: the cup of water that had fallen on him had totally erased his answers on the test. The terror of failure overwhelmed him. "I... I need a second sheet!"

"Don't raise your voice in a test-setting!" Ibiki thundered. "The next person who does that automatically fails!"

"But I need a second—"

"Wait for it to dry," one proctor said to the drenched young man. "...By the way, you scream like a girl."

'That's what you get for deciding to write in pen,' Potamos commented evilly to herself. 'Now, if you had written _in pencil_, that would have been a different case, because graphite doesn't dissolve in water like ink does...'

Thump. Another genin slid from his desk.

In the corner of Sakura's vision, something glinted. Sakura saw a reflection of Minoru in a pane of hidden ice.

Minoru was smiling.

Comprehension bloomed within Sakura's thoughts. Read underneath the underneath. 'Oh gods,' Sakura thought. 'Minoru-san and Potamos aren't cheating on the test. They're sabotaging it.'

* * *

Sasuke frowned in annoyance. He was checking Sakura, and that meant looking for any signs of communication within her team. Man, she was paired up with oddballs. A kunoichi trio — how quaint.

He examined the names of Sakura's teammates again: Otoya Minoru and Kawanami Hiromi. (Minoru was a girl's name, right? The vowel 'mi' sounded elegant, and many girl-names ended in 'ru'...) It was kind of strange that Sakura had been grouped with two other females. There were several mixed-group teams that composed of three males. When teams were arranged, they tried to make it co-ed whenever possible. So what was with this arrangement?

Drip. Drip.

So far, Sakura's performance was spotless. It was bizarre. Even if Sasuke had his Sharingan turned off, he had already struck quite a few points off the people surrounding her. Yet he had absolutely nothing off of his pink-haired friend. Quite frankly, she did not seem to be doing any jutsu of any kind.

She was already done with seven questions.

'Damn it, she's keeping up with the exact same speed as the answer-givers!' Sasuke inwardly complained. 'And I don't know how! How am I supposed to be ANBU if I can't get at least one hint of how she's doing it?'

Sasuke then realized how he was thinking. Could it there have been the slightest possibility that he was... miffed with Sakura's performance? One side of him lectured against his pride: he was being an ass, and should feel proud and happy that Sakura could do this one her own. On the other hand, it was so annoying that he could not catch her strategy.

"Number 41, fail!" One chuunin on the other side of the room barked.

"Numbers 67 and 12, fail."

The said test-takers weakly got up from their seats, and ambled out the door. Although disappointed, they seemed immensely relieved to be leaving. Twenty minutes into the test, and already the proctors were beginning to weed out those whom Ibiki dubbed 'scum'.

Naruto yawned next to Sasuke. The fox-boy peered over his clipboard. His blue eyes caught something, and his pencil made a checkmark.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Thump.

"Number 171, fail."

"Numbers 290 and 45, fail."

Sasuke decided to study Sakura's movements a little more carefully. It was nothing personal against her that he tried to find something. In fact, the young man was concerned that if she managed to reach the Forest of Death... Medical ninja or no, there was a possibility that...

(( The skin peeled off Orochimaru's face. "Just as I thought... I want you." ))

A mental shudder seized his limbs. If anything of that sort happened to Sakura in the Forest of Death while she was still inexperienced, Sasuke would never forgive himself. Especially when he was proctoring her for the first stage, being in the perfect position to disqualify her. It might be disappointing to Sakura. She might even hate him if Sasuke managed to fail her. It would be no surprise if she gave him the cold shoulder for months.

But if she was not good enough to pass this phase, then tough luck. Sasuke did not practice favoritism. Plus, Sakura would eventually forgive him. Eventually. She, unlike Sasuke, was mentally stable enough to let go of the past.

Sasuke watched the pink-haired genin shiver within her desk. Her damp hair was now a rosy shade. Her lower lip, now a pale blue, slightly wobbled — it was easy to see that her teeth silently chattered within her mouth. Despite Sakura's numb state, the pencil in her hand scribbled down the answers at an unbelievable speed. The splash of water seemed to have wakened her up from her stupor.

Drip. Drip.

And speaking of cold water: why in the world did they not check the plumbing system of this building before renting it out for the exams? It rather infuriated Sasuke that Sakura took the brunt of something that looked no more than a practical joke.

The Uchiha then noticed that some of the water now began to seep around her chest. She was curling her body downward to conserve her body heat, and the damp cloth began to mold around her feminine curves.

'Damn, they look so...'

Sasuke mentally kicked the foreign voice. It was only hormones. If he could not control them, that signaled his failure as a shinobi. And he would not do that. Not ever. No matter how innocent and helpless Sakura looked with her pale face and that cold wet dress, or how sage-like her green eyes shimmered as she worked, and not to mention her height of sensuality with a graceful neck, white legs, and full brea—

That was where Sasuke's self-respect drew the line.

The ninja tore his eyes away from Sakura, as he could find nothing against her. Sasuke had some real trash to fail. He saw one genin look around suspiciously. That was another two points.

"Number 218, fail," Naruto called out in a monotone.

"Numbers 60 and 139, fail."

* * *

Sakura sneezed. Nine questions, answered clean, easy... and miraculously dry. She read the final question. - The tenth question will be given fifty minutes after the start of the test. -

'This is where the morality comes in,' Sakura thought. 'This is the most tricky part of Morino-san. You can't tell exactly what answer he's looking for. One time he says you should protect your teammates, the other time he says you should sacrifice for the sake of the mission... It's so vague.'

Sakura rubbed her shoulders, trying to get some warmth back into herself after the cold shower. The kunoichi noticed that had completed the nine questions in thirty minutes. She had twenty minutes to kill.

"Number 66, fail! Numbers 80 and 241, fail!"

"NOOOOO!" One genin screamed. He began to struggle as one of the proctors forcefully shoved him out the door.

"I step down."

"Numbers 59, 2, and 234, fail."

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Screams and wails of protest abounded.

Sakura flipped her test over. So this was Potamos and Minoru's cruel strategy. Melting ice mirrors... and sleeping potion.

Potamos got answers using her ice mirrors, hiding them in angles where only she and her teammates could see them. But the chuunin examiners did not see any mirrors; they only presumed it was unexpected leakage of the plumbing system. Potamos had indeed refined her abilities. Not only was this a technique of espionage, but a method of torture as well. A splash of her icy water could chill the body and soul of an inexperienced genin. The sound of constantly dripping water could drive anyone mad.

The only slip had been when one mirror splashed apart directly above her pink-haired teammate. Yet the mistake had proven fortuitous in the long run; Sakura had nearly dozed off at the beginning of the test, and a cold soak had been an effective wake-up call.

As for Minoru: he had contaminated the test-papers with a sleeping potion while they were passed around. What other explanation was there for the fact that about a half of the genin sitting behind Minoru had fallen asleep? They picked up some of Minoru's sedative by touching the tests — and they would ingest it by chewing their nails or licking the tips of their fingers, both terrible habits that sprung up with anxiety.

The drugged shinobi were now beginning to wake up, finding only twenty minutes left of the exam and no answers. They sweated out their lives out as they hastily attempted to snag a few answers around them. Their nervous states led to sloppy cheating. They were immediately caught by the proctors and sent away.

There were fifteen minutes left. Half of the people were now gone.

'It seems like I should help Minoru-san and Potamos.' Sakura pulled out a small container, and took out something that looked like a jawbreaker. Her molars crunched over the pill.

Chakra-filled juices of the Hyourougan flowed through her mouth, stomach, and entire body. Sakura closed her eyes as her hands folded together in a hand-seal. Her fingers began to snap into the formula.

(("Don't raise your voice in a test-setting!" Ibiki thundered. "The next person who does that, automatically fails." ))

If there were still this many genin, then she had no other choice. After all, even though they were ninja, supposedly cold and professional and willing to die — they were still people. Chuunin Exams or no, there was going to be something drastic happening in the Forest of Death.

Sakura's green eyes snapped open. The jutsu burst from her hands.

A chorus of screams erupted.

* * *

The disqualification-rate soared. "Number 241 fail!" - "Numbers 48 and 23..." - "...31, fail..." - "246, 231..."

"No, please, I didn't mean to shout," one genin begged. He had not understood why the picture of blood and slaughter jumped into his mind, but he immediately regretted screaming. "I only —"

"SHUT UP!" Morino Ibiki roared. If this level of tension went any further, he was ready to deem spitting on the floor a felony. "I told you, those morons who disobey my rules _will_ be erased! That includes shouting!" he shouted.

Sasuke's clipboard landed on his lap. He was in mental shock. Holy shit. Sakura had just used the Kanashibari no Jutsu on several genin. Right before his eyes.

From the start, Sasuke knew that this was an abnormally large number of entrants for the exams. But was Sakura so desperate to eliminate competition? Instead of becoming tense and wounded from Ibiki's dictatorship, she heartlessly took advantage of it.

Sakura's eyes were closed. Her face was cryptic, acting as if she were deaf to the screams, tussles, and complaints in front of her.

"Damn."

Sasuke realized that he had just hissed out a curse in the middle of an exam.

Naruto hummed a tune as he scribbled checkmarks on his clipboard. The raven-haired young man next to him glowered.

Naruto looked up to Sasuke, as if mentally asking: 'What?'

Tap. Tap.

Ibiki noticed several hits at the glass window. A nearby chuunin proctor opened it, and a hawk flew into the room. It automatically flapped up to the specialist-jounin, and rested on his arm. Sasuke recognized the animal as a messenger-bird.

The interrogation-specialist untied the note from the bird's leg. Its job done, the hawk took itself through the window. Ibiki read the small piece of paper. - Foreign spies are in the Chuunin Exams. -

The head examiner looked at it for a good minute. He then turned to the proctors next to him, and whispered something. They nodded.

* * *

Notes:

"Otoya" - means 'second arrow'.

"Kawanami" - "kawa" means 'river' and "nami" means 'wave'.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	10. Detection

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I don't own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Jeez, I had not realized how long my chapters have been growing! The prequel to this story (Dimensional Exchanges, edited as much as I could and complete) had much shorter chapters, starting at around one-thousand to two-thousand words... and then later, four-thousand words, at the maximum. Now while writing _this_ story, I discovered that my computer can't load more than around five-thousand-and-two-hundred words per chapter.

Well, I'll let the readers judge it for quality.

sapphirewitch: gasp! Thank you, thank you, for pointing out the mistake — I edited it to make it cleaner and accurate. The numbers will come out next chapter, as only final results are counted. Oh, and thank you for your compliments as well.

Timeshifter: you didn't miss Hinata. It's just that I couldn't fit her scene time in the last chapter, for reasons mentioned above.

RyuNanashi: thank you, and thank you for not killing me.

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 10: Detection

* * *

"Naruto, did you even _see_ that?" Sasuke hissed.

"See what?" Naruto asked nonchalantly.

Sasuke looked at his rival in incredulous wonder. He leaned his head towards Naruto, and asked in a hoarse whisper: "Didn't you find that _somewhat_ disturbing?"

"Be quiet," Naruto muttered. "Right now, we have a job of proctoring."

This situation was worth considering. It was more than suspicious. Throughout the test, Sasuke had been the one getting... _upset_... over certain details. Naruto, in contrast, was carrying out his job, not disturbed in the slighted by Sakura's actions. What was wrong with this picture? Naruto had always felt squeamish about using torture jutsu. He should have had something more of a reaction if he saw Sakura do that. The kunoichi had competency in genjutsu — but using that brain-freezing illusion, on completely defenseless genin in a non-battle setting, no less... wasn't it a push too far?

It was too weird how indifferent Naruto felt towards Sakura's actions. Yes, concentration was key for a good ninja. But the Naruto in front of him seemed _a bit_ _too much_ concentrated in the task of proctoring. As if he were a non-thinking entity, focused on one task, and one task only. Someone... with a one-track mind.

Well, Uzumaki Naruto did have a one-track mind when it came to a) ramen, and b) becoming Hokage. But that was beside the point! This situation did not apply to either. Thus, the Naruto in front of Sasuke had to be a) a phony using the Henge no Jutsu, or b) a Kage-bunshin.

The answer was pretty obvious.

A low, trembling breath of fury escaped Sasuke's mouth. "You..."

Naruto gave a sheepish grin. "I'm filling in for the real one," he whispered. "It took you a while to realize that, didn't it?"

Sasuke should have remembered: Kage-bunshin were created to do the job right. Although made of real flesh and blood, their psychological way of acting was a bit different from the original maker. If one ordered them to 'attack', they would attack. Naruto surely had placed his instructions on it before leaving. The problem was, although Kage-bunshin most definitely would carry out the request, it would not concentrate of matters _outside_ of it.

In this case, the Kage-bunshin would not focus on Sakura. Naruto had ordered it to obey Ibiki, and Ibiki specifically told them to focus on the _cheaters_. It did not have the luxury to react to Sakura's actions, no matter how unusual they were. Extra work, both mental and physical, meant extra chakra. And to create Kage-bunshin somewhat independent and active for nearly an hour — even for Naruto, it was difficult.

From how thing were turning out, it looked like the original Naruto should have added the order: "Don't piss Sasuke off so much that he destroys you within the hour."

A now Sharingan-ified Sasuke raised his fist, ready to rip apart the Kage-bunshin. He was so frustrated and enraged for falling for that trick again. Not to mention that it was a replica of Naruto, and not Naruto himself, whom he had been talking to. The disappointment felt sort of like that of a child who had recently lost an imaginary friend, all because a parent or an adult told him that the entity did not exist.

With a panicked look on its face, the Kage-bunshin held up a hand. "No, Sasuke, don't do it!" it whispered in frightened urgency. "You'll get us BOTH in trouble!"

Sasuke dropped his fist, and his eyes went back to the deep obsidian. Shadow-replica or not, this copy of Naruto could use logic. The real fox-boy, if found out, would be more than scolded for not being there. As for Sasuke: well, if he revealed that he had not recognized a Kage-bunshin, after feeling its chakra for more than half an hour... Well, his depressive side threatened to reawaken.

Besides, the final question was coming up. They would soon be done.

* * *

Hinata's rubbed her backside, which had hit the cold ground when she slid down. She immediately got up in the Jyuuken stance, Byakugan activated.

A human skull rolled at her feet. Hinata swallowed. She proceeded to the mass of a bluish substance, in which a certain child-ghost was trapped.

Hinata's white eyes carefully studied the jelling mass around Warashi. She lifted her hand, and focused some chakra to a fingertip. It began to glow an ethereal brightness. Hinata neared it ever so carefully toward the bluish glob. The miasma began to shrink slightly at her touch.

With a burst of courage, Hinata let her finger rip through one of the jelly-like bindings around Warashi. She exhaled in relief, knowing that there was some way of freeing the ghost. "Stay still, Warashi-chan."

The dead boy seemed to understand what Hinata was doing. "Be... careful..." he croaked out weakly. "Don't touch... it... with bare..."

Hinata withdrew her hand with a gasp. She momentarily had too little chakra in her fingers, making her fingers bare against the blue substance. The miasma stung like a burn.

Hinata tried again, powering up her fingers with white aura. Soon, she cut the slow-moving bindings from the ghost-child, like a surgeon cutting away tissue. The kunoichi remembered that some medic-nin could create chakra-scalpels — she was doing the same thing, only with a different type of chakra. Hinata had to do it quickly; Warashi was almost fading away, even in her advanced vision. At one point, Hinata discovered that if she used her index and middle fingers, she could snip through the material more efficiently, much like scissors.

Then Hinata noticed something behind her. A dark-blue mass loomed over the kunoichi, like a tsunami.

Hinata screamed as it crashed over her.

* * *

Morino Ibiki strode to the exit doors of the back — and slammed them shut. He turned around to walk back to the front of the room.

A deathly silence filled the area. All the genin looked towards Ibiki, waiting for the tenth question.

The head examiner surveyed the ninja. "Listen carefully. I have noticed some _unusual_ things during this exam... And I want to say that they are low, and vulgar. As a result, this final question will have a special rule attached."

Potamos cocked her head to the side. 'Special rule?'

"Some of you are completely aware of what you have done wrong. And it is suspicious, not to mention _despicable,_ behavior." Every word was venomous. Ibiki looked at the set of genin, particularly the two girls with freaky hair. "However..." Ibiki continued, a small grin tracing his face, "...we do make exceptions for those who give us information."

Minoru did not like the sound of this.

"I will give you the news straight." Ibiki unfolded a piece of paper — the same, crumpled up paper that he had gotten from the messenger bird — and displayed it out for the genin. "We have recently found out that some genin have illegally entered the Chuunin Exams."

One dark-haired kunoichi raised an eyebrow at this comment. She absentmindedly touched the beads around her wrist.

Several of the chuunin examiners held scrutinizing expressions on their faces towards Ibiki. The head examiner ignored them, and went on with the 'interrogation'.

"Not only that, I have spotted several forms of cheating, which my colleagues seemed to have missed." A knowing grin spread on Ibiki's face. His eyes glanced in the direction of Potamos.

A shudder traveled down the girl's spine. 'He knows,' Potamos realized. The seizing of her limbs was not from cold, for she hardly felt such a sensation as discomfort. 'He's pretty good...'

"That is why, we are offering a deal," Ibiki continued. "If you confess that you have cheated, or give information to us about your teammates: you will automatically advance to the second part of these exams, with a new and better team."

Minoru's blue eyes sharpened. He could feel the excitement vibrating from all around, enveloping him in crowd of quiet nervousness.

"If, on the other hand, you keep quiet, and it turns out that your teammates _are_ spies..." Ibiki shot a terrorizing gaze on the genin. "...not only will you be disqualified, but I will send all three of you to the torture chambers."

A shocked silence resounded through the test-takers.

'Damnation,' Minoru thought. 'This Morino is using the greed and desperation of the genin to abandon their teammates.' He silently calculated the numbers: there were thirty-one teams left. 'But if he is indeed serious, and they do find us out... which could very well occur, especially when we have Potamos on our team... It would make things nearly impossible for our mission. Only one person going into the forest, while the other two in the torture chamber.'

"That's... that's illegal!" one of the genin shouted. "The Chuunin exams are organized between the village Kage. You can't put guests under such conditions like confinement or torture!"

"There is no such agreement," one chuunin pointed out. He flipped his clipboard, and showed a copy of the contract the genin had all signed to enter the examinations. He adjusted his glasses before resuming, "It says directly on lines five to eight: 'If there is any suspicion that genin are performing observational activities beyond what the tests demand, the host village has the allowance to hold said genin under custody, _using any means necessary._' That includes torture."

"WHAT?" the younger one shouted out.

Sasuke rubbed the side of his forehead from the loud exclamation. "Didn't you read the fine print?" Sasuke murmured.

His statement was _supposed_ to have been in an aggravating, know-it-all manner — yet the foreign kunoichi began to sigh in response, much to his annoyance. (And if Sasuke were not mistaken with his hearing, he was sure that an effeminate male or two had joined in.)

The other proctors glared at the Uchiha for being a damn-gorgeous distraction with his looks and voice. Sasuke only responded by covering his hand within his face, sorry that he ever said anything. The ravin-haired chuunin wanted this to be over. Now.

"What if we don't _know_ if our teammates are spies?" another genin insisted. "Some of us are in mixed teams!"

"You should have noticed something strange, then!" Ibiki shot back. "For the sake of this village's security — if you have suspicious members in your team, you also must face the interrogation squad."

Sasuke glanced at the hunched form of Sakura. The kunoichi was slumped over her desk, extremely pale. Her eyes were not even visible. She probably knew the situation she was in: being in a mixed group, it was viable that her teammates were upper-class spies. If that were the case... Sakura herself could be locked up in the cold, dark chamber. It did not matter to Ibiki if Sakura was Tsunade's apprentice.

The raven-haired ninja felt a little annoyance towards the head examiner. Ibiki had not informed him, nor the other examiners, about this earlier. The rules were turning slightly unreasonable from Sasuke's point of view. Some of the other elite chuunin appeared to have the same opinion; they mumbled out comments quietly between themselves. Sasuke would have liked to put up something of a verbal protest — but what position was _he_ in, as a proctor and former traitor? Sasuke had to play along with Ibiki's rules. The only thing he could do legally was to think. 'You paranoid, sadistic bastard,' his mind shot towards the head examiner. 'Just _what_ are you planning?'

"That's friggin' unfair!" one ninja from the Cloud shouted. "Most of us don't even know our own teammates personally! And now that we're all together, especially with this mixed-group team — you want to rip it apart?"

The specialist-jounin pulled off his hitai-ate and the attached bandanna. What the genin saw silenced them immediately. Ibiki's bald, tanned head was patterned with crooks and rips. The scars, badges of previous torture, showed experience in the ways of cruelty. "Do you think I care about fairness? About diplomacy?" Ibiki asked in a threatening tone. "I have gone through hell, and the scars on my head and face is proof. Those who threaten Konoha security will earn _double_ of that under my supervision."

Morino Ibiki was damn serious. In the eyes of both genin test-takers and chuunin proctors, he was a devil.

"You are ninja," Ibiki growled, "and as ninja, you are soldiers." He glared at Minoru, who watched him intently. "If you find yourself in the situation that your teammates are not who you think they are — then you are finished. What is your choice? Take the chance that your teammates are clean... or go ahead alone."

One proctor raised his pencil. "And if your teammates try to attack you when you decide to confess," he said smoothly, "you will be protected. All of the examiners you see: they are the elite of Konoha chuunin. We will intervene if there is violence in this place." A pause ensued. "Those who want to report, please get up, and report to the front desk."

Ripples of indecision went through the genin.

Minoru leaned back in his desk, slowly contemplating the choice. He worried about his teammates, and how this mission would fold out. This was certainly a strange turn of events. If Potamos were taken prisoner... the consequences could be dire. Even in this world, the Potamos could be a powerful being of Nature.

And Sakura... Minoru did not even want to think what could happen to her. If she decided to keep quiet, and the investigators found out their team's true identity — who knew what they would do to the young kunoichi during interrogation? She had certain skills to mentally defend herself against them... but only to a certain extent. She was only human.

The blond then froze in his desk. If Sakura turned herself in for cheating, he and Potamos would go free. As long as the charge was against herself, and not on her two teammates, everybody would safe.

'Sakura-san, we _must_ go into the Forest of Death together,' he thought, attempting to mentally send the signal. 'DO NOT stand up. See what Morino truly wants.'

To Minoru's relief, he did not feel any waves of nervousness from Sakura. The pink-haired kunoichi seemed totally confident that their team would pass into the next round. Her psyche felt very peaceful. The blond relaxed himself in his green robes. They would get this tenth question, nice and simple.

Quiet gasps spread through the room. Evidently, someone decided to comply. Minoru looked up to see who it was.

To his horror, he saw that it was Potamos, slowly rising from her seat. The purple-haired girl was going to confess, so that Sakura and Minoru got off the hook. Minoru had not known of how strong her feeling for self-sacrifice could be.

'Devil-child! Don't do it!'

* * *

While the exams had been progressing, a blond shinobi was making his way through the northern part of the great forest surrounding Konoha. Naruto chuckled to himself. He wondered if Sasuke had figured out yet that he had left a Kage-bunshin to do the job of proctoring. If he remembered correctly, he had left the clone with the orders of "Do everything what Ibiki orders you to do", and "Show Sasuke up".

He did not regularly perform that jutsu to get complicated jobs done. It took a lot of chakra to keep something like a Kage-bunshin intact. Naruto could only hope that nobody handled the replacement too roughly while the first part of the exam progressed. It certainly would look uncool if one of the proctors of the test suddenly exploded, leaving only a cloud of smoke and an empty seat behind.

If Sasuke ever did figure it out in time, Naruto only hoped that his rival would not destroy the Kage-bunshin. Then again, it sort of seemed exactly the thing that Sasuke would do. Oh well.

Before the first exam started, Naruto had felt some sort of sign that Hinata was in a fix. Naruto went to the Hyuuga residence to see if she was there. The heiress had already left. He then rushed to the Hokage's office to see whether Hinata was off on a mission, only to be informed that she had not reported for duty yet. Tsunade scolded and booted Naruto out of the office, reminding him that he had an exam to proctor, and to not be too easy-going on her own apprentice.

The elite chuunin skipped off the branches, and jumped off a particularly large tree. Naruto rested a bit on the ground to regain a bit of oxygen. Slowly, his lungs took a great intake of air.

Something of a perfume reached his nose.

Naruto's blue eyes shot open. It smelled familiar. 'Hinata.'

Was that Hinata? It smelled like her dark hair... and perfect skin... her calloused, yet ever-gentle hands... 'I wonder what she could do with those.'

A burn spread through Naruto's face. 'No, no, no! You haven't even been going out with her for a whole week, and you already think about... Idiot, idiot, IDIOT! You're trying to _find_ her!'

He had to mediate his senses. Naruto took another breath of air, this time through his nose.

Hinata's smell wafted around his face.

Naruto twitched. Oh hell no.

Wait a minute: how would Naruto know her _smell_? Did he have some sort of fetish involving the nose that he had not been aware of until now? Naruto scratched his head, trying to remember if he had sniffed her inappropriately while they had been hugging and kissing. No... He didn't think so... Unless he was doing something wrong without realizing it. If that were the case — he would be on the deathlists of Hyuuga Hiashi AND Hyuuga Neji.

'Maybe I should reread Jiraiya's books,' Naruto thought to himself. 'And actually pay attention to the text instead of skimming. Then I'd know what NOT to do.' He shuddered, thinking of what it would be like to take the Hakke Rokujuuyonshou — twice, with ten times the fury.

Naruto knelt down, and spotted a deepening in the moss. The tiny line of a footprint was barely visible in the patch. 'There's only one kind of person who can walk like that,' he thought. 'Someone light, with the graceful footwork of Juuken.'

The fox-boy vertically punched the air with a fist. Using the investigation techniques that Jiraiya had drilled into him all those years, Naruto figured out that Hinata had most certainly been here.

"Man's intuition!" Naruto shouted.

The crickets chirped. They were his only audience.

Naruto paused, and scratched his head. "Wait... wasn't the idiom, 'woman's intuition'?" he wondered out loud. The blond shook his head, remembering his objective. 'Ah, who cares? Need to find Hinata, need to find Hinata!'

The ninja sniffed.

Naruto felt kind of funky around the nose. Was it just him, or was he turning into Kiba?

He even noticed how gross and filthy his clothes were... Oh, yeah, he had taken his week-length used suit, straight from the laundry basket, because he had forgotten to wash the other sets. Naruto made a mental note to take a bath before allowing himself to cuddle his girlfriend again. Love was wonderful — but a lack of hygiene usually signified a lack of respect. Hinata would probably faint from the stench.

The ninja trod through the grass and leaves. He found a dirt path, and followed the light tracks with the scent.

It took a long time, though. Naruto was slightly confused with where he was going. Pretty soon, he was becoming nervous as he jumped through the trees. 'Hinata, where ARE you?'

A booming voice nearly knocked Naruto off his feet.

**'You are a failure at detecting your own kind!'** Kyuubi roared. **'How can you not find your OWN MATE'S SCENT? You are a disgrace as a male!'**

Naruto clutched his ear with one hand, much like he'd do when Jiraiya would give him a hard scolding for learning dangerous jutsu. His hand did not really help drown out Kyuubi's voice, because the fox-demon sent out his complaints directly to Naruto's brain. The ears played no role in the communications link between them. The youkai was trapped within the boy's naval, after all.

'Look, Demon-Fox, I'm trying my best to master tracking, okay?' Naruto shot back irritably. 'Even Jiraiya says I'm making progress.'

**'Jiraiya is an idiot.'**

Naruto thought about that for a moment. 'Okay, he is an idiot,' the blond shinobi agreed. 'But he does know his ninja skills.'

**'And you, like the Yondaime, have no sense.'**

Naruto growled. 'Hey, stop insulting my teacher and the Yondaime! The latter was the one who kicked _your ass_, remember?'

A loud snort of distain echoed from the youkai. **'He sealed me. Nothing more.'**

'He kicked your ass, you shit-head fox.'

**'So you want to become like the Yondaime?'** the Kyuubi asked, his voice turning into something of laughter. **'Even when he died, fighting against me?' **

'Damn straight,' Naruto resolved. With those words, his stomach jolted. The feeling was extremely weird, as if a hook sunk in his bellybutton and was yanked backward. A wave of burning chakra streamed into his normal reserves.

**'I suppose you already figured out what I did.' **

'Yeah.' Naruto's nose wrinkled. 'You're making my sense of smell so hypersensitive that a skunk would be my death.'

**'Like what happened to the dog-boy when you farted in his face, right?'**

Naruto decided not to comment any further. Instead, he went straight to the point. "What the HELL did you do to my nose?" he demanded out loud.

**'Nothing drastic,'** Kyuubi answered. **'I just willed some of my chakra to make some your nose and hearing a bit like my own species.'**

SNAP.

Naruto quickly make a fighting stance. He looked down, and saw that his foot had stepped on a tiny twig. The blond stared. Was that the loud snap he just heard?

"I'm going to go deaf before I'm thirty," Naruto mumbled to himself, in as low a voice as possible.

**'You can adjust it, Idiot,'** the Kyuubi growled. **'It just takes good control over my demonic chakra.'**

'You're mutating me!' Naruto thought.

**'It's a gift. If you are as great as the Yondaime, then this tiny amount of chakra should be no problem at all.' **His voice was mocking.

The roaring bursts of laughter faded out. Naruto shook his head in dismay. SWISH. Oh, jeez — even his short hair was making noises. Naruto took a deep breath, ignoring the fact that it sounded like the wind of a typhoon. His hands curled into an In, and the shinobi closed his eyes. 'Control,' he chanted in his mind, letting the position of his hands absorb some of the extra ki. 'Control. If I'm going to find Hinata-chan, I'll have to learn this quick.'

The ninja sniffed. The perfume died down to a comfortable level, but strong enough to give him a trail. Naruto opened his eyes, and looked to the southwest. He noticed something of a wooden structure.

A stone bodhisattva stood erect, protected underneath a roof.

Hinata's scent was all over it. And by all over, Naruto meant all over.

As he drew closer, Naruto noticed something else. The smell was a mix of the wind's weather and Hinata's hair, but also... a strange aura. It seemed to grow stronger and more nervous with every step Naruto took towards the stone sculpture.

The chuunin looked up at the statue's face. He noticed that the eyes of Kannon glowed.

'What ails you, Child?' a voice asked.

For some odd reason, Naruto did not act very surprised that a statue was speaking to him. Threads of blue chakra began to swirl around Naruto. He glared up at the figure. "Where's Hinata?"

The statue was silent in response. Yet guilt hung around it like a strung-up man.

Naruto's fists clenched. His eyes were still blue, but they burned with fierce rage. "GIVE HER BACK!" he roared. He threw a glowing Rasengan at the statue. Sure, it was sacrilege, and a waste of a cultural artifact — but Hinata's life was more important.

'Eeeep!' Almost instantaneously, a large hole opened up near the foot of the stone. Naruto's glowing sphere whizzed out.

"Ha!" Naruto quickly jumped into the hole. "I KNEW that being stubborn on something always got you somewhere!"

As the hole closed off, a silence wind blew around the statue. An eerie sort of sigh joined in with the breeze. 'He really _is_ an idiot,' the voice commented.

* * *

Naruto tumbled onto a dry, sandy ground. Several hard objects were in his way, and he rolled over them in all the wrong places. "Ow, ow, ow!"

The blond shinobi looked up. He discovered that the things that had bruised him were human bones. He hissed in disgust.

Naruto suddenly clutched his nose. It reeked terribly of blood and rotting flesh. 'Don't power-up the fox nose unless absolutely necessary,' he mentally noted to himself. 'I think that I should have more respect for Kiba's clan for putting up with this their entire lives...'

The place he was in was a gray wasteland. There were mysterious puddles of goo around. They seemed to form a path to a mountain.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto called out. "Can you hear me?"

As Naruto walked, he saw that the mountain was made of the same substance. It was moving slowly, and nothing to be taken lightly. There was so much chakra coming out of it that Naruto could see it with his bare eyes. But what was most strange about the mass was that at its center, something of a white spot pulsed.

A hole formed within the mountain. "Why are you heeeeere, Huuuumaaaan..." a voice spoke out. It began to give short, spaced-out chuckles. "Soon, you'll fade away... And your body will be miiine..."

Naruto glowered. "Where's Hinata-chan?" he asked.

A stream of more jerky laughs. "The Priestess...? I... already... took her..."

Naruto's face twisted. "Where. Is. She."

"I already... told you... I consumed... her..."

Naruto finally realized what that pulsing, white light at the center of the mass was. Directly inside was holy aura. His face darkened.

"This girl's strength... is incredible." Something began to step out of the incredible mass. Dark-blue eyes set themselves on Naruto. Something like a beak formed around the area of the mouth. "And soon, I will have you."

Naruto opened his eyes. His hands were already in position. "Kage-bunshin no Jutsu."

With an exploding sound and a burst of chakra, the multiple clones of Naruto charged towards the monster. "GIVE HER BACK!" they shouted in unison.

The monster was stunned, as the very real bodies kicked him from all directions. That was impossible — a human body could not last under a minute within this place. They would disappear, leaving only their souls. The Priestess of Souls was an exception; her powers were still quite strong as she held a barrier inside the medium.

But this blond kid was still here. Indeed, although his blue aura was getting sapped, just like a drop of water in a vast desert... something else replaced it. A red something.

The monster, now taking the form of a tall being with the head of a bird, kicked away the Kage-bunshin. He then felt a hand grab his foot.

"Gotcha." The real Naruto grappled the youkai's ankle, pulling it upward and causing the demon to fall. He noticed that the demon's legs had feathers covering it. And the beak... 'This must be a tengu.'

The strange being's chin smacked onto the gravel. He — or it — then realized that its beak got chipped in the blow. A harsh screech rung in Naruto's ears.

The blond winced at the noise. "That's IT!" Naruto signaled to his remaining Kage-bunshin: it was time to start the Uzumaki Naruto Rendan. "You're going down, bud!"

Then, without warning, all of the Kage-bunshin disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Naruto was perplexed at their spontaneous disappearance. They had been freshly created, and the tengu had not attacked them at all.

The eyes of the monster crinkled, indicating a smile of triumph.

Naruto realized that this environment sapped people of their strength. So that's why the Kage-bunshin were canceled without physical damage — it took chakra to hold them up.

"Just hold still," the tengu said. At least there was one benefit of separating from his energy source: he could send out words and language a lot quicker. Pretty soon, this yellow-haired brat would add to his supply. "You cannot win here, for it is _my_ place." A chirping sort of laugh escaped the demon. "Even the Priestess should be devoured by now."

Those words made something in Naruto crack. A growl sounded out from his throat.

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	11. The Definition of Cheating

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I don't own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Some people are a little too antsy, and don't realize that I am a busy college student! I am updating as frequently as I can right now. This is just a story, so don't wring your brains out because of it — I'm the one who's in danger of doing that, not you the readers!

But I love comments and suggestions.

Thedarkowns1: Yes, you are right. My interpretation of the Kage-bunshin was a little too detailed. Naruto DID kick his own ass in the first bell-test, and none of them could figure out who was the real one. In the previous chapters, I just thought that I could make them a little bit more aware of their own existence. It was also a good way to piss Sasuke off a little.

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 11: The Definition of Cheating

* * *

The tengu looked upon the boy. The pure, cerulean eyes of before were now replaced with a pair of canine red eyes. As each pulse of blue chakra evaporated from Naruto's body, a red line took its place. His nails grew sharper. The whisker-like marks on his face turned dark and more prominent.

Naruto slashed towards the demon with his clawed hand. The tengu caught his wrist and quickly twisted it.

In response, Naruto's arm harshly threw the tengu onto the harsh gravel. The bird-man squawked out in pain as his back hit the ground.

Using this moment, Naruto's form ran towards the demon. His fist fell above the tengu's face. The tengu managed to tilt his head sideways, in time to evade the blow. The punch landed on the ground instead. Chunks of earth blasted out, and a fist-shaped crater now existed where his head once was.

The tengu, immediately recognizing the increase in both speed and power, harshly kicked a foot up into Naruto's gut. "ARGH!" The tengu's wooden geta sandals ripped apart the boy's shirt — and the boy. The blond burst in a poof of smoke. Kage-bunshin again.

The tengu screeched out as several shuriken hit his wings from behind. "Insolent human!" He looked around. No one was there.

The real Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him. The blond smirked at the bewildered look on the demon's face.

Naruto's foot connected with the bottom of the tengu's beak. The force made the youkai backflip. The bird-man immediately landed on his feet gracefully.

The tengu quietly balanced himself on the ground. He coolly studied the human, who was beginning to look more controlled with the strange chakra. "You are trained as a ninja," the tengu noted. "Yet what is that energy?"

"None of your business." Naruto cracked his fingers. He had decided that any ninjutsu or genjutsu would be a bad idea, as this environment sucked out chakra. It was better to limit chakra usage by performing normal, hand-to-hand combat. Taijutsu.

Naruto's leg swung around, going for a blow to the youkai's head.

The tengu blocked Naruto's kick. But it was strange: the bird-demon was doing nothing to further the combat, like twisting Naruto's leg or letting go. Instead, he just held it there. "You do realize," the tengu said, "that my species are good in martial arts."

Naruto pulled out three kunai. "So are mine." He threw all three. The tengu disappeared, and reappeared in front of Naruto. Naruto caught the other's fist.

"If you want to break apart this spell and free the Priestess, little SERVANT of hers," the tengu sneered in Naruto's face, "You'd have to kill me. And I don't go down so easily."

Naruto snarled. His hand holding the tengu's fist began to nail.

The red eyes made something click in the tengu's brain. "You..."

This boy's eyes — no, it was the Kyuubi's eyes.

The tengu let off the largest aura he could create. Naruto screamed in pain at the rush of ki, and kicked the youkai away, forgetting that he had been planning to crush his opponent's arm.

The tengu ran away, back towards his blue miasma. There, he would have more energy. From there, he could to push out this human from his realm. It was a pity that he could not have the boy... But the Priestess was a good consolation prize.

Naruto immediately recognized what was going on. With a large amount of chakra in his legs, he caught up to the retreating demon and tackled him to the ground.

"Let Hinata go first," Naruto ordered, his fingers curling around the tengu's throat.

"That's... THAT'S CHEATING!" the tengu squawked. His voice plugged out when the hand tightened. Naruto hissed as his grip loosened.

"No, it's not," Naruto said. The blond tightened his hands momentarily to suffocate the youkai again; he had never felt so angry in his life. "Let her go," Naruto repeated. "Or I will kill you."

A regular person would have complied with Naruto's wishes. But the tengu's pride as a demon had been hurt — especially when it was a mere human who fed off, and CONTROLLED, a legendary youkai. "Kyuubi," the tengu whispered. "I'm disappointed in you."

Naruto's pupils sharpened. It was as if something possessed him. Screams of bloody murder echoed in the blond's thoughts. **'Lowly feather-brain! Not even a high-ranking demon! Whelp, give him a long and PAINFUL death. Especially when his throat is so readily within your grasp.'**

"Don't try to make HIM angry," Naruto whispered to the tengu. "I have a hard enough time to make him shut up. Now let Hinata go, or I will comply with the Kyuubi's wishes for once."

The bird-man coughed. He looked up weakly. "No. I won't."

That was the last straw.

A kunai sank into the tengu's heart. Naruto held it there as black blood spurted out.

The youkai began to weakly laugh. "You... idiot..." He coughed. "The soul of the Priestess... can revive me quite easily." The tengu's body started to disintegrate. But the pieces of the corpse began to slink towards the blue mountain of miasma.

Naruto's breath stopped. The gravity of his mistake sunk into him like a weight. In his rage towards the monster, he simply had _left_ Hinata trapped there! The shinobi-training — it had advised that attempting to rescue teammates during battle, especially without knowing how to save them properly, was a risk. The rule was to attack enemies first, then check who was left. Naruto had labeled this battle as a normal shinobi combat.

And he was supposed to be her boyfriend.

"HINATA!" Naruto screamed. He ran towards the mountain. He had to make it in time...

His knees hit the ground. Naruto was completely drained of chakra. What the hell was Kyuubi doing?

'No... Hinata...'

He collapsed onto the earth. A single tear escaped his eyes before losing consciousness.

The mountain gurbled. And then it exploded.

Miasma sprayed outward. Some of the blue jell slid down, however. A transparent orb revealed itself from the remains: a shell of white chakra. It melted away, revealing the Priestess and a ghost.

Hinata slowly got up from her crouched form, her glowing arms protecting a tired Zashiki Warashi. The gray sky rained blood.

Hinata exhaled. They had done it.

* * *

Potamos looked up at Ibiki. She took a deep breath.

The whole room was still.

"May I go to the bathroom?" Potamos asked.

Sakura twitched in her seat. Minoru's forehead sank into a curling hand.

The other people in the room stared at the tiny kunoichi with the bizarre hairstyle. WHAT did she just ask? And at a critical time like this, no less?

In truth, Potamos was a little afraid at what she was doing. She was only playing the psychologist. It could turn out that her thinking was wrong, and Ibiki would kick her and the team out. But in terms of legally entering the second part of the exams — that did not matter to Potamos. From her point of view, her team could _force_ themselves into the Forest of Death if need be.

But what Potamos really was aiming for was getting out of this room. And the class size they had now was perfect. She had a pretty good hunch of what was going on.

"Are you serious?" Ibiki rumbled.

"Yes, I'm serious! And I really, really need to go," the girl with lavender pigtails whined. "It's pretty obvious this is a hoax anyways. So can you hurry up and let us pass?"

"Hoax?" The head-examiner's voice rattled. "What kind of logic do you have that this is a 'hoax'?"

Potamos fluffed up her violet hair. "Ya wanna interview me? All righty!" She ticked off one finger. "First of all: the note. There is no guarantee that it is an actual message. You could have just brought it in to stress us out — especially when you're known as _the_ interrogation-specialist of Konohagakure." Potamos flashed a cute smile. "I'm only a genin from Hidden Rain. But I know that you have a _spiffy_ rep!"

" 'Infamous' would be better, if you want to flatter me," he muttered under his breath. 'Using that word... Is it even a word?' Ibiki thought angrily. 'Does she even FEAR me?'

A second finger shot up. "Secondly, even if that note _were_ genuine, it's obvious that you never took it as a serious threat in the first place," Potamos said. "A threat, yes, but not a major one."

"What proof do you have, brat?" Ibiki asked, clear enough for Potamos to hear through all the buzzing of the genin.

Haruno Sakura got up from her own chair. "Because you showed us the note." She nodded at the mischievous look that Potamos shot her. Sakura turned her head back to the examiner. "Morino-san. If it were true that Konoha was in danger because of infiltration, then reporting this discovery to us — the very genin who could be spies — would be the worst thing you could do. You'd be giving your plans away to the enemy."

"Yeah, yeah!" Potamos complained. "When you have a potential suspect on your hands, you don't ask them to defend themselves, or give them a chance to run away." She took a deep breath. "If you want to really get info, this is what you do: you have to grab a hold of them," her hands bunched up into tight fists, "lock them up," she threw her fists upward, as if she were dangling from chains attached to a wall, "and then shake the truth out of them, no matter what it takes!"

Potamos huffed, pausing for a bit of oxygen.

Ibiki waited with a straight face.

"And lawyers aren't allowed access to them, of course," she tagged at the end. "That would take the whole fun away."

The chuunin proctors had no idea what to say. The girl was outrageous. They were seriously afraid of what Ibiki was going to do next to her.

After a long silence, something burst out from Morino Ibiki's mouth.

It was laughter.

"You have spirit, kid," Ibiki said. "And although your logic is questionable... YOU PASS!" he roared. "I give you all permission to enter the second part of the exams!"

The shouts through the rooms were those of confusion and disbelief. "WHAT?" - "Is he _serious?_"

"But... sir... what about the tenth question?" one genin asked, tentatively raising his hand.

"That WAS the tenth question," Ibiki growled. "That was the final test to see if you were mentally capable of becoming a chuunin. It was a simulation.

"Think of this situation: you and your team is taken by an enemy target. They are about to interrogate you, such as where your hideout is, when the other squads are planning to come... even ask you what jutsu you use."

Minoru understood now. That last question was a replication of a true conflict between shinobi. That meant gathering information about the enemy, and warfare technology.

"Of course, they might try to bribe you into turning traitor," Ibiki continued, "with a higher salary, better ranks... Hell, I even remember when one of my friends objected, saying that he had a wife at home — and the enemy offered, 'Don't worry; we'll get you a new wife.' "

A silence ensued. The genin were so stunned by now that they could not laugh at Ibiki's tidbit commentary.

"Anyway, going back to the fix... If you decide to comply with the enemy's wishes and turn yourself in," the head-examiner continued, "your teammates will not necessarily agree to do the same thing. That is when you all lose. Your two teammates go into the dungeon; they're tortured for information. You give the enemy information under comfortable conditions. But more likely than not, the stories that you and your teammates give will not match up." Something akin to a wistful look passed Ibiki's face. "Watching your former teammates getting whipped alone... That eventually does something to your brain."

The genin shuddered.

Sakura's head lightly nodded. 'And even if you do change sides, there's always the possibility that the enemy will deem you too dangerous to keep alive. After wringing out the information they need, they can easily execute you along with your teammates.' She breathed, thinking it over. Ibiki's lesson helped Sakura understand more of Potamos' actions in the Rifts, when Potamos tried to protect her from another demon. 'No wonder she took that chance — we could have been killed either way. In some things, Potamos knows more about the Shinobi Way than I do. Holding together, and working quietly together to escape... It seems idiotic at first glance. But it is the more practical approach, when you look at it in a long-term perspective.'

"Holy crap, I thought I was gonna die..." - "Oh YEAH!"

Even the chuunin proctors had to admit that it was a well thought-out test. Confessing to cheating was like confessing to spying. Ibiki was the perfect examiner for this part of the Exams.

Amidst the babble, a young shinobi from the Hidden Cloud slammed a fist on his desk. His eyes made contact with Ibiki's as he stood up. "I OBJECT."

A silence fell upon the genin. Ibiki raised an eyebrow. "You object that you pass?" he asked.

The teenager grimaced. "What I object to," he pointed at the lavender-haired girl standing next to him, "is that _she_ gets to pass along with the rest of us, even though SHE CHEATED!"

The other genin uncomfortably shifted in their desks, wondering if the guy had seen their own actions.

The ninja turned an angry face at Potamos. "I know what you did last hour!" He thrust an accusatory finger at her cute button nose. "I saw those ice mirrors of yours!"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed with this comment. 'Ice mirrors?' he asked himself.

"But YOU were the one who copied the answers from MY test," Potamos retorted.

"I did NOT!" the ninja shot at the counter-accusation, which in fact had been dead-on.

Potamos turned away from the Kumo-nin with a haughty snort. "So what if I did cheat? That was the whole point!" she complained.

The genin who had been listening to the argument began to mutter amidst themselves.

"You do realize, Kawanami, that you just gave a confession to cheating," Ibiki intoned to Potamos.

"Score," the Kumo-nin said in gloating triumph towards Potamos, much like a sibling would say when a parent sided with him in an argument.

"And yet, you still all pass," Ibiki said in finality. "Because Kawanami already knew what the true purpose of the test was." He tied the Konoha hitai-ate back on his forehead. He read the bewildered looks on the genin's faces. "This test was intentionally formulated to try out your espionage skills, as well as your response to pressure." He pointed to two people — one person sitting next to Minoru, and the other on the opposite corner of the classroom. "You should have realized that 299 genin were seated at the beginning of the test. But that number does not divide out evenly into three-man-cells."

The Kumo-nin momentarily lost his frustration with this new piece of information. That was right: 297, and 300, were multiples of three. He then remembered Ibiki's fourth rule.

(( "Those caught cheating will only destroy themselves. As genin trying to advance to chuunin level: be a proud shinobi." ))

"In other words, 297 were real genin out of the total 299 participants," Ibiki explained. "Those two," — the two test-takers mentioned before raised their hands — "are undercover chuunin, whose sole position was to write down the answers. It was your job as shinobi to collect that information." Ibiki coughed. "As for the stress, I realized from the beginning that this group was too large. So as the test went along... I jacked up the rules a little bit."

'A _little bit_?' some of the proctors mouthed out.

"But... SIR," Potamos' desk-mate said, still a touch annoyed with this revelation, "I was not speaking about the information-gathering part of the cheating. I was talking specifically about the _sabotage _done by this girl!"

Potamos giggled. "Whatever are you talking about?" she asked none-too-innocently.

"You know what I mean!" the Kumo-nin shouted. "You've been needling me with barbs for the past hour, trying to distract me!"

Potamos lifted up a senbon. "You mean these?" she asked, putting on the most adorable face one could imagine. "I hafta say, it was fun watching you _squirm_. Too bad I can't do it in a different manner..."

The corner of Minoru's mouth twitched. 'Potamos, you idiot...'

The shinobi turned to the head examiner. "See? She even ADMITS to sabotage!" he shouted in wrath, clearly missing the flirtation that Potamos had thrown at him. "And you're just going to let her get away with it?"

"I forbade killing and screaming and other things... But there were no rules that barred sabotage," Ibiki answered nonchalantly. "Actually, the things I saw made my job much easier."

Sakura's form slumped in relief. She was safe. At least for now.

Ibiki waved his hand. "As for all of you: I wish you all luck for the second stage of the exam. You are dismissed."

"I win!" Potamos chimed.

The Kumo-nin was at a loss. "But—"

Before he could protest any further, Potamos nailed a powerful slap on his back. He toppled over the desk and crashed on the other side.

"ALL RIIIIIIGHT! WE PASS! " the purple-haired girl shouted in glee. The gasoline of success jerked her hyperactivity level into overdrive. "Kawanami Hiromi and Co., earn V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!"

"She's insane," the Kumo-nin croaked out.

Potamos, completely oblivious to the twitching body on the floor, was already standing on top of the desk like a circus entertainer.

"Kawanami stands on firm ground!" Potamos exclaimed. "This is my valedictorian speech: pass by any means necessary, whether it's by bribery, forgery, or harassment! Whoever passes, passes! Whoever gets an A, gets an A! It doesn't matter if you torture your classmates to drop out, or cheat off of them, or pay them money for the answers — because the answers are what count in the final test ANYWAY! I love academics! The academics are wonderful! THAT IS ACADEMIC HONESTY!"

Sakura lifted up her hand, her index and middle fingers forming a V-sign for victory.

Minoru put up a hand in a sign of prayer. "Amen."

Potamos gracefully flipped her body back onto the chair like an acrobat, her cheeks flushed.

The proctors stared. That had been a blatant form of violence towards another test-taker. But there were no rules prohibiting that, either — especially when the test was already over. Chuckles of laughter spread through the genin, already showing that their confidence was back.

The Kumo-nin, with some effort, pulled himself back on the chair. His mouth came near Potamos' headphones. "You call yourself a kunoichi?" he hissed. "The point of being a ninja is to gather information. With your stupid stunts, you've got at least half of the room holding a grudge against you. You should watch out in the next stage."

"Looking forward to it, Handsome." Potamos giggled.

CRASH.

The shattering of glass resounded. A few seated chuunin ducked when a shadow broke through the windows. The genin jerked in their seats.

A female got herself up from the floor. Her voluptuous body was covered in tight fishnet — only her trenchcoat and a small skirt covered what was adequate. "I've got news for you, twerps!" Anko shouted. "I am Mitarashi Anko, the head examiner for the second stage of the Chuunin Exams!"

The genin stared. Ibiki turned away, letting Anko take the job. 'She never changes.'

Anko's foot stomped on the ground. "The next stage is will have combat involved."

"Yeay!" a purple-haired girl sang.

An evil grin crossed Anko's features. "It is a survival experience, with anything goes. Even murder shall be permitted — whether it ranges from simple food poisoning, to complete bodily liquidation!"

"Woohoo, liquidation!" Potamos rejoiced.

"Drop everything, and follow me!" Anko yelled out like a prophet.

...Needless to say, many of the chuunin were immensely relieved when the hour was over.

* * *

Naruto breathed quietly. Something soft and warm stroked his face. His closed eyes scrunched up, indicating that he was getting out of his sleep.

Naruto's form lay sprawled on the steps near the Kannon-statue. Something very warm acted as his pillow.

"Naruto-kun."

The blond slowly opened his eyes. A pair of light, lavender eyes looked at him. Hinata smiled.

The recent events flashed through his mind. "Hinata-chan... did we die?" Naruto asked. She looked every bit the angel with her pale eyes and smiling face.

Hinata giggled. She laid a gentle kiss on his forehead. He sounded quite serious about the death part. "We're alive, Naruto-kun." Her nose touched his cheek. "Thank you for warding off the demon, while Warashi and I figured out how to break the miasma."

Naruto got up. A jolt of stiff pain ran through his body. Muscle-ache was certainly a terrible thing to experience. "I should have gone in and saved you first..."

"If you did that, the tengu probably would have attacked you while your guard was down. Then you would be dead... and I would eventually have followed you." Hinata said. "I could hold a holy barrier within. And I knew you'd come for me." She snuggled up next to Naruto.

Naruto sighed. "You're much too forgiving, Hinata-chan." His arms wrapped around her very real form. "You know, it was strange... I did feel something back then. That... you needed help." He cracked a smile. "I guess it sounds odd."

"No — not at all," Hinata whispered. Indeed, she felt honored at his explanation. And she believed him.

"...Hinata-chan?" Naruto said, breaking the silence.

"Mmm?"

"What does you watch say?"

Hinata checked. "9:24."

Naruto exhaled quietly. His arms gently lifted her frame to fit with his. Five more minutes of simply holding each other, he decided, had been well-earned after that fight.

Plus, Sasuke needed about thirty minutes to cool down.

* * *

Minoru's heels clicked as he strode past Ibiki.

"Good poison," Ibiki muttered.

Minoru stopped in his tracks at this comment. His head turned slightly. "So you noticed," the blond said quietly.

"You took out one of the answer-givers, you know," Ibiki said. "He happened to sit right next to you."

Minoru only shrugged. With a mysterious smile on his lips, the long-haired blond made a gentle bow with his head, and walked away.

In the far corner of the classroom, Sasuke collected the papers. He stopped at one desk. - Name: Haruno Sakura. Exam Team 95. -

Sasuke noticed a few carvings in the wood of the desk. From the edge smoothness, and the gunky eraser bits and pencil lead pushed deep into the cracks, one could tell that the writing was old. - I like Sasuke-kun! -

The Uchiha nearly snorted in disgust at the elementary-school graffiti. What happened to their precious Sasuke-kun now? Nobody then could have predicted the 'Orochimaru incident' — except maybe himself. Funny, how even the eight-year-old Sasuke had known subconsciously that he would try something so dangerous. Even before he met the snake sennin, even before he got the curse to his neck...

Sasuke's thoughts halted. Was this scribble the reason of why Sakura demolished her pencil at the beginning of the test? He had thought, at first, that it was because he and Naruto proctored her. With further investigation, it seemed like Sakura felt more insulted than he had presumed. To be specific, it was more like intense annoyance.

Oh, well. Sasuke had been pissed off at the dress she wore. The sight of her legs would tempt any hormone-driven maniac. There were several genin, and even chuunin, who gave her the eye during that agonizing hour.

Now, Sasuke was not one of them. He did not _leer_ at her. He was not a pervert. But he certainly had grown upset that Sakura would wear an outfit with such a high leg-slit in a place like this. Didn't she realize that testosterone-crazed teenage boys made up the majority of the Chuunin Exams? She was surrounded!

As a friend, of course, Sasuke felt inclined to protect her virtue. Sasuke could only hope that her foreign teammates would do the same — at least in espionage and mental power, they seemed top-notch. And Sakura was capable of self-defense; her genjutsu and taijutsu were decent.

Sasuke looked back at the wad of tests he had collected so far. One test had eight answers. Someone else, five answers. Others: six, seven...

Sakura's test was the second one to have all nine filled out. She must have picked up the answers pretty quickly.

'...Second?'

Sasuke walked, and grabbed paper after paper. Three answers complete. Six answers complete. ...Eight... Four... Three... Six... Eight... He was looking for a third test which actually had all nine questions complete. There had to be, because there had been only two chuunin who gave the answers.

Sasuke reached the last paper. Seven answers complete.

With now high interest, the raven-haired chuunin studied the papers. It seemed that out of the hundreds of genin, only two people — Sakura and _one _answer-giver — had been able to give a complete answer to every written question. And if Sasuke remembered correctly, Sakura had been seated far, far away from the other guy.

Sasuke looked down at the entire pile. 'Jutsu-equations,' he recognized. 'Normal genin definitely would not know this stuff. Not even chuunin would bother.'

Sasuke meditated on this. A good whole minute, in fact.

The Uchiha looked at who was left in the room. The head examiner was still there. Sasuke walked over, and presented Ibiki with the tests.

Ibiki pulled out a bag from nowhere, and held it out. Sasuke blinked. "Contamination," Morino grunted. "One of the genin got desperate and covered the papers with sleeping chemicals. Make sure you wash your hands right away, Uchiha."

The papers slipped from Sasuke's hands and into the sack. "So that's why Taketori passed out," Sasuke said, naming the undercover chuunin who had failed in his duties.

"Yep, he did," Ibiki answered. "Took him forty minutes to finally wake up; the idiot. I never liked him anyway." He turned to walk out of the room. He paused, before adding: "By they way, Uchiha. Don't feel guilty about what happens to Haruno after this."

"She'll be fine." Sasuke's jaw tightened slightly. 'She'll be... fine.'

* * *

Notes:

About the 'new wife' thing that Ibiki spoke about: this is a real story I heard from my father, who lived in West Germany during the Cold War. The U.S. and Soviet governments were grabbing human resources like crazy, especially people knowledgeable in science. One professor was offered by the Soviets to come to Moscow to do research — housing and food would be provided. The man hesitantly answered, "Well, first I have to go home and talk to my wife and family about it..." The recruiter answered quickly, "We'll get you a new wife." Yeesh...

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	12. The Forest of Death

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I don't own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Another note, which is specifically for last chapter: 'academic honesty' is the unwritten rule among academia (both students and professors alike). No cheating, no copying. If you want to use outside material you must site and give credit where it's due. That's the real definition.

For those who have me on an author alert list: I'm sorry for the 'extra' chapter that came up for "Dimensional Exchanges" recently. I was editing one chapter, and due to carelessness and lack of sleep on my part, I sent it in as a _new_ chapter instead of replacing the old one. I erased it as quickly as I could, but then it was too late; the automatic mailing system went out... and I AM VERY SORRY FOR MY BLUNDER! I'm also very upset, because the new 'update date' makes DE look like it was finished last week — when in actuality, it was November 30, 2004. Yes... I finished the damn thing in seven months. But I'm _constantly_ finding stupid, tiny mistakes in it! (This probably isn't a good sign for my mental state. I'm not even an English minor, and yet I still frown upon incorrect spelling and grammar.)

CactusGuy: thank you for pointing that out to me. Now, instead, Potamos says "Kawanami stands on firm ground!" instead of "Potamos stands of firm ground!" like before. I intended her to say it in third-person as a characterization, in par to show her 'cuteness'. As for Tall-tails, I did not know about that webcomic (is that what it is?) until you informed me. Thanks!

xl-twisted-lx: Are you trying to kill me with your constant 'update sooner' messages? Or are you intentionally hiding your opinion? Tell me the truth.

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 12: The Forest of Death

* * *

Sakura impatiently unbuttoned the green dress. Now she understood why Minoru gave it to her for the written part of the Chuunin Exams.

It was a normal Chinese-style dress at first glance — but what made it especially good for the written exam was Minoru's quick-evaporation spell on it. The blond had known what Potamos would do in the test, mistakes and all. Covering the outfit with a chemical spray would have ruined the fabric, and Minoru was one who did not like to waste beautiful things, especially when it was gift for Sakura. A pretty woman was a pretty woman — but a beautiful dress, that made a pretty woman beautiful. And Sakura, just by SITTING in her desk, distracted a few chuunin examiners long enough to allow Minoru and Potamos to do their work.

As Sakura hung the dress in her closet, she noticed the spell fading away. Liquid beads of gold rolled down the sheen fabric, before hissing into thin air.

Black pants slipped up Sakura's legs, and the green shirt folded over her torso. The shuriken-holster got strapped around the right thigh. Her pouch was full with ninja-tools and medical items. Sakura fished out a couple of scrolls from the bottom of her closet and clamped them into wooden scroll-holders, which were connected together by leather strings and tied around her shoulders. She proceeded to hurry to the Forest of Death.

When Sakura opened the front door, was she ever surprised when her eyes fell upon Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke was leaning his back against the wall opposite her house. It had been a long time since he came into this district. Actually, she did not remember leading him to her house, ever...

"Why are you still here?" Sasuke asked. "You have the second part of the exams in the Forest of Death."

Sakura looked at him carefully. "Mitarashi-san gave us an hour to pick up our supplies," she quickly explained, trying to hide her discomfort. "I... just came by to change."

At the corner of Sasuke's lips, a tiny smile formed. His tense air seemed to melt away as Sakura closed the door of her house. "You were wonderful in the first part," he said quietly.

Sakura blinked. Wasn't he supposed to have been... mad at her? She had been so sure that he caught her using the Kanashibari on several genin.

It was to her shock when Sasuke edged up to her, less than a meter away. Now, a year or two back, they did spend some time together as friends, especially during his recovery. But they had not been this physically close before.

Sakura's throat turn dry as his hand caught her cheek, and caressed it. "Sasuke?" The kunoichi felt something deep within her flutter.

"You know, it's a shame you went out of that dress," Sasuke said in a low whisper. "How about a date after you're done with the second part of the exam?"

The kunoichi shivered when he said these words.

Then her face scrunched up.

"LIKE HELL I'LL FALL FOR THAT AGAIN!" Sakura screamed. Her leg swung upward and straight, sending Sasuke flying into the fence. Sasuke's form banged against the wooden wall, and slid down.

"Sakura...?" he coughed out, a bewildered look on his face.

The kunoichi scowled. "You can't possibly be the Sasuke I know. He's a very practical guy; he wouldn't think of me in _that_ way. EVER." She smiled. "The word 'date' isn't even in his vocabulary."

The Sasuke in front of her smirked. His form melted into that of a masked ninja with dark-blue hair. Fom his hitai-ate, Sakura could tell he was from the Hidden Grass Village. "So you're sharp," the Kusa-nin said, wiped the blood from his chin. "I thought that this Sasuke-guy was what you put down in your profile as your 'favorite thing'."

Sakura's cheeks flushed. That was right; she had written something like that in her profile when she was twelve... "I've updated since then, thanks!" she retorted. The kunoichi moved into a fighting stance. "Now what the hell were you thinking, posing as Sasuke?"

"I am here to eliminate you from the exams. What else?" His hands clapped together into a seal. "If I defeat you here, your entire team won't be able to enter the Forest of Death." The Kusa-nin's teammates had already labeled Haruno Sakura's team as a potential black horse for the Chuunin Exams: it was just spooky, how they manipulated the written test. The proctors did not notice them until it was too late; Ibiki took their side. If he took out just one of them, right now — neither his team, nor the other people from the Hidden Grass, would have to worry about fighting them. Well, there was that Otoya Minoru... But heck, he had never seen Minoru before. Maybe the blondie was one of those spoiled freaks who hid alone into the mountains to train.

In any case, this Haruno Sakura had to go down now. His hands snapped together in a jutsu. "Ninpou: Kusashibari no Jutsu." (Ninja skill: Grass-binding technique)

Something like a long whip brushed past Sakura's cheek. As she turned her head slightly, she saw that her opponent had willed a small weed to grow out of a tiny crack in the cement. The organic string attached itself to Sakura's wrist — it pulled, attempting to drag her onto the hard asphalt.

'Shit!' Sakura thought. She immediately sent chakra into her arm and hand, and pulled back. She ripped the strong rope out the ground, roots and all: pebbles of cement sprayed upward.

The Kusa-nin's jaw dropped in amazement. This girl possessed superhuman strength!

"Mutated dandelion?" Sakura asked, dangling the now limp weed. "It was dense enough to stay intact after my pull, at least." Her inner self scoffed. 'I've seen much better from Minoru-san, and he's not even a real ninja from the Hidden Grass!' She paused, and thought it through. 'Well, that's kind of unfair of a comparison; Minoru-san is not exactly human...'

The Kusa-nin put back a smug look on his face. "All right. If I can't kill you with my village's techniques..." He pulled out a pair of nunchaku, chains with club-like sticks attached at both ends. "I'll just have to cripple you so that you can't reach the Forest of Death!" he roared, running at her in full speed.

Sakura ducked the nunchaku, and lashed out a kick to trip him. He jumped, and one of the batons hit Sakura's wrist. It was not at the perfect angle, so no bones were broken... yet.

Sakura smiled. Little did her opponent know that she was used to pain.

The other nunchaku swung from above. With a quick reflex, the pink-haired ninja caught it. The blow of its rod would have broken a normal girl's hand, but Sakura had used a bit of chakra to cushion the impact — she made a tight grip onto the weapon, and twisted it out of her opponent's hands.

Sakura spun the nunchaku around, testing it. As if sensing her inexperience immediately, the rod-and-chain weapon tangled around her wrist, making her look very stupid. 'Damn, I forgot. Nunchaku take years of training to master!'

The Kusa-nin took this chance to aim for her shoulder. He only needed one nunchaku to break her arm, thus disabling her for using jutsu. "You lose!" he shouted.

Just in time, Sakura flung the stolen nunchaku against its brother weapon. The chains tangled together in the air. With her foot, Sakura kicked the tied-up items away like a soccer ball.

The Kusa-nin tried to reach up to catch them, but he froze when something sharp poked his neck. His rod-and-chain weapons clattered to the ground several meters away.

Sakura held a kunai at his throat. "It's over."

"No, it's not," a voice behind her laughed. Sakura's green eyes widened as the ninja in front of her collapsed into a heap of straw. "Kusa-bunshin, our village specialty." The shinobi twisted her arm, making her wince. "I switched when you kicked away the nunchaku."

The kunoichi swung her free arm out, aiming to punch the Kusa-nin's face. He bent his body a little to the side, evading the thrust. His foot aimed at her ankle. Sakura saw the maneuver, and twisted her leg right to hook his own foot down. There, they were in a mutual lock.

Recognizing Sakura's martial skills, a perverse sort of fascination overcame the foreign shinobi. He willed his feet to played out some light kicks, just to test her. His pink-haired opponent skillfully dodged or blocked each thrust. When he finally saw an opening, he stepped on one of her sandaled feet. She growled at the weight he put on. His other foot pinned the other down.

Sakura hissed in frustration as they just stood there, with him literally standing on her toes. 'I'll just punch him out with a chakra-infused fist,' she thought, bunching her hands.

Then she recognized that look on his face. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the close proximity they shared. And his hands were traveling towards her shoulders.

A punch was too nice for the likes of him.

Sakura head-butted the ninja, making him stagger back and get off her feet. 'So my huge-ass forehead came in handy for once.' She planted a foot square into his groin, making him howl in pain.

"Let's save it for the official test, okay?" she huffed. Figuring that this boy already got the message, she turned around to leave.

The Kusa-nin quietly picked up his nunchaku. He looked up. "Big mistake, letting your guard down!" he exclaimed. He ran towards her.

Sakura cracked her knuckles. 'Then again, if I knock him out _now_, I can kick out his team. Three fewer people.' She was truly going to bestow poetic justice. For herself, of course.

A loud smack, followed by a thump — neither of which Sakura made — resounded in the air.

Sakura turned around to face something more familiar: an irritated-looking Sasuke. Except, that he looked more irritated than usual. The edge of his mouth seemed to be working out a compromise between a tight frown and a forced sneer of amusement. "SAKURA..." he growled out, holding up the unconscious foreigner.

Sakura blinked at his expression. She had never seen such cold, terrifying aura come out of him. He hardly ever showed emotions through tone of voice. Maybe in fighting, but never in speaking.

Sasuke dropped the ninja onto the asphalt, much like he did to another poor soul. "I hope you're happy," he said stiffly. "That's the second one this week."

"Second?" she repeated, confused.

"You know!" Sasuke barked out. Her complete obliviousness prickled the avenger's psyche, like terribly woven wool on bare skin. He kicked away the genin, intentionally throwing some dust from his sandals into the teenager's mouth. "Are you TRYING to get creeps with no life to attack you?"

Sakura was baffled. Her normally calm, cool, and collected friend now steamed out frustration. She was a little frightened, to be truthful; he seemed like an overprotective brother of sorts. Well, an angry younger brother seemed to fit the description better.

A giggle came out of her, effectively changing the mood of the conversation to a lighter side. "I could have nailed that one, you know." Sakura's face switched into one of gratitude. "But thank you — again," she said sincerely. The harsh expression on Sasuke faded. His eyes closed as his head turned away. A gentle 'hmpf' escaped his throat.

Sakura looked at the Kumo-nin in slight concern. "Sasuke... won't you get in trouble for attacking an outside genin?"

"We won't get in trouble if they don't find out," the avenger stated simply.

'Since when was there a 'we' between you and Sakura?' the foreign voice inside him prodded. 'Are you _admitting_ something?'

Sasuke ignored the voice. He looked at the Kusa-nin at his feet, and looked back up to Sakura. "Take care of him, won't you?" he asked. The raven-haired ninja held up a hand with two fingers pointed upward — half of a Tiger-In. He disappeared in a whirlwind of green leaves.

Sakura's eyebrow twitched. Sasuke escaped using the Shunshin no Jutsu, leaving her alone to dispose of the genin! And going off in a burst of leaves... "Show-off," she mumbled.

The kunoichi then cracked a smile. "Good luck in the entrance exams for those ANBU classes, Sasuke."

* * *

"Konoha's infamous training ground and test-taking area." Anko presented the view of the gates. "The Forest of Death."

Minoru glanced at Sakura and Potamos beside him. "Sakura-san, don't hold onto my sleeve so tightly," he muttered. Sakura quickly let go; she had not noticed her hand's actions. Minoru looked at Potamos. Her form trembled. "That goes for you as well." He pried her fingers off his arm.

"Sorry, Mino-chan," Potamos whispered. She was lustful for blood combat. The battle aura surged into her lapis lazuli pendant. "I'm just so excited! Kinda like that!" She quietly squealed, similar to what a preteen girl would do with a backstage ticket to a popular boy-band.

Anko rambled on with the requirements. "...the heaven scroll and earth scroll, you need both when you reach..."

Minoru glanced at Sakura. "Did you run into trouble?" he asked.

Sakura looked up. So Minoru had those telepathic abilities, even now. "A Kusa-nin attacked me," she said nervously.

"Then what?" Minoru asked.

"I tied him up, and threw him in a dumpster."

Anko saw something of a small tornado of dust come in their direction. She squinted her eyes to see what it was. A certain ninja skidded to a halt in the midst of the test-takers. It was the same one, Sakura noted, who had attacked her half-an-hour ago. "Damn!" Sakura hissed between her teeth. "I didn't do it tightly enough!"

"You made it," Anko said to the Kusa-nin.

"Sorry," the ninja apologized. Still panting, he sent a glare in Sakura's direction. He had no idea how she made him unconscious; it had been so quick. But even he had to admit that she was a worthy opponent. Oh yes. It had been a pain in the ass to untie himself with the Nawanuke no Jutsu, especially when the pink-haired kunoichi bound him with a special rope, whose material so intricate in its design... unconventional for normal hostage-binding, and very difficult to untie.

'Who the hell ties an enemy up with medical bandages?' the Kusa-nin thought.

Three forms blurred on the ground.

One tripped, and ended up on the forest floor in a tangle. "Eep!"

The other two skidded to a halt.

A dirtied Potamos carefully got up from the ground. "Oopsie."

"Be careful," Minoru said. "By the time my vines grab a hold of you, you might already be down a manhole and impaled by spikes."

Sakura helped the girl with lavender hair get up from the ground. "Up you go, Hiromi." Sakura and Minoru had to address Potamos as Kawanami Hiromi, even in the Forest of Death. Keen as Minoru's senses were, there was still the possibility of echoing that could give away information. 'The trees have ears' was one famous saying among Minoru's people.

It still felt weird for Sakura to see Potamos again. Two years ago, they were almost the exact same height, and the purple-haired girl radiated far more confidence. Now, Sakura felt like _she _was the overpowering one. A ten-centimeter vertical growth, along with her developed shoulder muscles, could make a lot of difference.

"Um, Hiromi. Your eyes," Sakura whispered.

A pair of yellow eyes with cat-like pupils had revealed themselves in Potamos. "Can't I melt the disguise off a bit, at least while we're in the Forest?" the girl pleaded. "It takes a long time to hold the brown eyes on. It drains chakra."

Minoru shook his head. "It's a disguise, isn't it? If others see you, there's too much of a risk that..." The blond suddenly winced. He clutched his ears, as if they were on fire. "Perhaps I shouldn't be one to talk..."

"Minoru-san?" Sakura immediately came to Minoru's crouching form. "What's wrong?" The kunoichi pulled away his hands, trying to see what he was hiding. A series of heavy pants escaped him. As his hands dropped away, lengthened ears perked out amidst the waves of blond hair.

Minoru's elfin ears were morphing into their original shape.

Potamos grumbled. "Oh, jeez. That means you'll look more and more different as the days pass..."

The elf grimaced, wiping the sweat off his face. "I knew that the area around this village had some plant energy. But I didn't think its powers would be so similar in nature to those in the Rifts..."

"According to legend, the first Hokage had the ability to make trees grow at an unbelievable rate," Sakura said. "He used his jutsu to create the whole forest protecting Konoha."

"I see..." Minoru breathed. "Then the spiritual energy must be concentrated in this Forest of Death as well. It would also explain why the animals and vegetation around here tend to be larger than life."

Sakura looked worried. "Should we quit this mission?" she asked. "If people see you in that form..."

"No, no," Minoru insisted. "Ever since I entered Konoha's borders, I've been using a semi-transformation to subdue the ears, as well as the other features of my appearance. It's just that the power is overwhelming me now." He slowly took to his feet. The waves of natural energy rushed into him; he had to be careful not to lose balance and trip while his brain adjusted. "We just have to make sure to put a gentle memory charm on anybody who sees us with these physical traits."

"Or kill them!" Potamos said excitedly.

Minoru sighed in exasperation. "Yes, we will have to kill. They already have extreme intent towards us." He glanced towards Sakura. "You do realize that you might have to decide whether a fellow villager dies or not. There will be worse things if we attempt to do this clean."

Potamos combed her streaked hair with her fingers. "So we're going to slide the weak ones out first?" she asked.

Minoru frowned. "We cannot pick and choose; that much is certain. We shall try to take out as many as possible. And there is also THAT thing."

Sakura wistfully looked at the blue sky above. "You told that I won't have to enter the final tournament, Minoru-san," the pink-haired kunoichi said. "Right?"

"That's up to you. But you do know the risks of showing your fighting style to a whole stadium."

Sakura nodded. A long pause hung between them.

One of Minoru's ears twitched. He glanced to the side. Physically-extended ears certainly had their merits.

Potamos began to shiver. "It's already here," she crooned. "Pow, whip, and throw. Kinda like that."

The three immediately made a circle, backs against each other. Their environment began to shimmer and wave. Sakura made half of a Tiger-In as the illusion formed. "Potamos, don't move." Her other hand came up to meet the other one. Hand-seals flicked by. "KAI!" Sakura hissed.

The blurring image around them cleared off in an instant. Minoru's foot skidded in a circle as his body moved. His arms flung towards nothing but air — or so it seemed.

A split-second later, a bewildered-looking ninja from the Hidden Cloud was pinned to the tree by two of Minoru's knives.

Before the ninja had time to notice Minoru's changed appearance, a vine suddenly twisted around his eyes, blocking his vision. "What the—?" He then began to feel some wiggling underneath his mask, over his face. It felt fuzzy, crawling, just like... "YAAAAAAH! It's a kemushi!" he screamed.

Kemushi, quite literally, were 'hairy bugs', which gnawed away at trees, especially cherry blossom trees. The little worm-like caterpillars scared the daylights out of many people, as they were associated with decay.

"It's a small vine. NOT a kemushi," Minoru said irritably. "Don't confuse my dear plants with parasitic invertebrates."

The blindfolded genin went limp. His sleeves began to tear, as his bodyweight slid down while the knives still pinned his clothes on the tree. Sakura felt around for an additional source of foreign chakra: none. "This genin must have thought he could take us on his own."

Potamos walked up and poked at the Kumo-nin. She held one of her palms out. A tiny icicle crystallized from the tips of her fingers. She raised the ice-spear above the unconscious ninja — a malicious grin streaked through her features.

Minoru immediately bonked the water-demon on the head, making her drop the spear. "We had agreed to only kill when necessary," the blond elf scolded Potamos. "When we knock innocent ones unconscious, we try to throw them out, untouched!" He walked over to the unconscious ninja, got back his knives by yanking them out of the trunk, and caught the human. His finger pointed at the chain-link fence, only five meters away. "Look, we are even NEXT to the gates."

Potamos' yellow eyes filled with alligator tears. " But I wanna—"

"LATER," Minoru said, remaining firm. "We have several days." He raised his hand: an even thicker vine embraced the unconscious Kumo-nin. The green tendril carefully lifted the ninja up the tall, steel-link fence that secured off the Forest of Death. It gently laid the shinobi on the other side. "Listen," said Minoru, "you may be _somewhat_ trained as a ninja," — Potamos harrumphed at his belittling — "but you must realize that this place does not adhere to the same laws. And believe it or not, there are plenty of humans in this world who would go so far as to sacrifice their own lives to eliminate beings like you... and some of them are quite capable of it."

Sakura folded her arms. "We're serious. Many high-level ninja have powerful elemental jutsu — you could literally get evaporated, melted, zapped, or absorbed away. Whichever option you choose." Sakura patted her lavender-haired companion on the shoulder. "Act like a human among humans," she whispered in Potamos' ear. "It's a test of espionage."

Minoru froze. Something of an evil premonition flashed through his thoughts. 'Bloodlust.'

A figure jumped out of the trees, aiming at the elf's back.

Minoru stood perfectly still as the opponent came rushing. He could literally feel all the pain, all the desperation of the human. Excitement mingled in the air as well; there were two other humans, watching from beyond. Probably this new attacker's teammates.

"Then again," the blond elf said softly, "not all lives are worth living."

Minoru's arm shot out. A ninja fell on the ground, blood spurting from the deep wound on his throat. "Don't you agree, Potamos?" the elf asked, standing above the corpse with a bloodstained knife in his hand. He had addressed the water-demon by her true name, but that would make no difference. The other ninja would never have the opportunity to give out the information: they would already be dead.

Two ninja hiding in the treetops trembled at the sight of the body. They felt numb. Even their skin hurt.

From fright and the sudden cold, one ninja's jaw instinctively chattered. That gave away their position. A shadow passed.

"Gotcha!" Potamos mewed.

* * *

Anko sipped from a cup of green tea, cleaning her taste buds. Next to her on the bench was a plate of syrup-drenched balls of melted rice, stuck through with wooden sticks.

"Ah... nothing like hot tea with dango to the side." She bit off one dango from the long stick. "It's like a heaven on earth here."

Two screams resonated from the Forest of Death behind her.

A sigh of inner peace came out of the jounin. "Heaven indeed."

A team of ninja slowly inched its way through the damp forest floor. The moss and roots looks harmless at first glance — yet the patch-like quality of the surface suggested that old traps were still there, left from previous examinations. "Be careful!" one of them said. "The key is to look at the changes in color of the grass!"

"Stop repeating everything that we learned from Sensei," another said, irritated. "We're from the Hidden Grass, this shouldn't be too hard." He glanced at the third member of the team. "Holding okay, Sourou?"

The one named Sourou nodded.

"Shame you couldn't get that three-girl team while their Konoha-nin was out in the open," the first one joked.

To his teammates' surprise, Sourou just smiled in response. "She was good. There's no shame in that."

"Hey, you don't have to say that," the other snorted, as if his teammate was only joking. "We can get revenge if we meet her up later."

Sourou shook his head. "Honestly, I wouldn't want to go up to Haruno Sakura in a full battle." A shiver went down his spine. "Her strength is incredible. They say that she is the apprentice of the current Hokage."

"The current Hokage... drinks, is terrified of blood, and is known as the Legendary Sucker among casinos and gambling circles." The leader ticked off the qualities. "An irresponsible teacher, probably. And that means an overrated student."

Sourou recognized the looks on his teammates faces. Oh shit. They were seriously thinking of malicious intent towards Haruno Sakura's team. "Hey, guys," the Kusa-nin said in increasing nervousness, "I really don't think targeting their team is the most intelligent thing to do."

"Why not? They sabotaged the first part. It's only natural they get squashed flat in the second."

"Don't you SEE?" Sourou said harshly. "It's totally unnatural! Not even the elite chuunin noticed their moves in the written part. Then I tested out the pink-haired girl's fighting abilities... and that spar was only in taijutsu, mind you... And she totally evened out with me."

"Evened out with you?" The leader of the group frowned. His visage relaxed into a teasing look. "Doesn't that just say that you suck in taijutsu?"

"I used my nunchaku. She caught them like nothing." Sourou's face slightly burned as his teammates stared in awe. Retelling the incident to his fellow genin was somewhat crushing to his pride — but they had to realize the possible danger of running into that mixed team. "And I don't think she was at full power when I confronted her," he added. "It was hard to detect chakra emission."

"Well, girls tend to have better control..."

One of the ninja fingered his teammates towards him. "Hey, guys. Check this out."

Sourou and the leader crept up behind a stump. Looking from a large peak, they saw a deep gorge. A waterfall roared, splashing into a wide river. Two other teams, down on the river's shore, were facing off against each other. Fighting had not yet occurred. One team was entirely composed of ninja from the Hidden Leaf — the other was Haruno Sakura's mixed team.

"Well, isn't this a sight," the leader said, quietly hiding amidst the weeds of the mountainside. "We'll see how much they get beat up."

* * *

Notes:

Hinata, you ask? Don't worry; next chapter will shift to her, Naruto, and Sasuke. I'm thinking of putting a few more Hyuuga in, too.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	13. Worse than What?

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property.

x

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

-Writing-

(( Flashback ))

x

Chapter 13: Worse than What?

* * *

Zashiki Warashi floated upward to the ceiling. "Your family's mansion is huge, as always." The upside-down ghost surveyed the wooden plane. "How do they get the money to renovate anyway?"

Hinata smiled back up at him. "It's a prestigious clan. And there are good architects in Konoha." She drew out a blank sheet and a pencil. "So did you get the message?"

Warashi righted himself, and descended. "Yeah, I somewhat picked up a message before the demon grabbed a hold of me." The ghost whipped a finger towards her. Hinata's pencil shot out of her hand, and balanced itself on the paper. It streaked across the parchment in a flurry of strokes and dashes.

The girl put a steady hand over her beating heart. If she was going to be Priestess, she might as well get used to the ghost's telekinetic ways , even if it did sometimes take the form of a dancing pencil.

The message complete, the pencil tipped flat onto the desk. Hinata read the paper carefully.

x

The human test again once commences

Under the command of the assassins of the leaves.

Suffering and love, rage and mercy,

All shall reveal themselves in this trial of young souls.

x

Yet from the start, several have entered

Who excel, both in and above mortals

And will prey upon those unfortunate

Who do not understand the nature of all Life.

x

To the Priestess of Souls, whose duty

Is to protect, heal, and set free these ones,

Look for the first item: a soul which feels, yet knows nothing,

One that shows mercy, yet cannot move or think on its own.

x

Hinata stared at the words. She read them in repetition, and gave Warashi a muddled look.

Apologetic, the floating ghost raised his hands. "That was the only thing I picked up. Donno what it means, either." It wasn't his fault that these messages were otherworldly, his gesture said. Even he seemed to hate it that the other spirits couldn't be down-to-earth when it was needed.

"The short word for soul... is _tama_." Hinata stared at the paper. She had a feeling that she could solve this riddle easily. It just was not coming at her right now.

Warashi floated down to Hinata. "I'm not sure what the human test and trial means... Those happen constantly, after all. Could it be something organized?"

Hinata raised a hand to her lips. "The Chuunin Exams." She turned to Warashi. "It could also be the ANBU entrance exams, but genin would be more vulnerable."

The ghost nodded in agreement. "Teenagers would be good prey. They're easily molded into thinking irrational things."

Hinata suddenly heard a whooshing sound behind her. She immediately turned off her advanced Byakugan, and turned around to see who had opened the door.

"Hinata-sama, have you seen Hanabi?" Hyuuga Neji's voice was as calm as ever, even though he had a tense aura drifting around him.

"N-No, Neji-niisan." Hinata's old stutter came back when she heard the note of urgency in Neji's voice. She hastily rolled up the message and pocketed it.

"When was the last time you saw her?" he asked further.

"This morning," Hinata answered. "She told me she was going to shop for groceries." Hinata's pale eyes blinked. That had been five whole hours ago.

"She's missing?" Hinata asked, her voice raised slightly in alarm.

"Hiashi-sama has already sent out a search squad." Neji showed a map of Konoha to Hinata. "So far, we've searched the eastern part of the village, and most other parts."

* * *

Haruno Sakura looked up and down at the enemy. Three ninja of her own village stood before her: a tall, gangling boy, a small preteen girl, and a jock-like male of seventeen.

Sakura did not know the two older boys personally. The tall one was one of her classmates back in Ninja Academy, but she probably graduated before him.

As for the girl, she looked extremely familiar. Straight, jet-black hair, and pale lavender eyes.

"You must be Haruno Sakura-san," Hyuuga Hanabi said, raising her kunai. "My older sister thinks highly of you."

Sakura gave a slight smile. "Pleased to finally meet you formally, Hanabi," said the medic-nin. She then turned her eyes to the tall male with long limbs next to Hanabi. "I think I remember you from school." He nodded in response.

The eldest member of the team was irked that Sakura had straightaway ignored him in her greeting. She was a bit too flashy for his liking. He coughed loudly to get her attention. "Before we begin, could you tell us what scroll you have?" he asked. "If you have the same, then let's part without fighting. We have the heaven scroll."

Minoru glanced at Sakura, before turning back his gaze on the shinobi. "Shame," Minoru drawled back. "It seems like we'll have to fight over the scrolls after all."

Sakura pulled a pair of black leather gloves over her hands. She then paused. "Hanabi-chan, isn't it a little too early for you to be in the Chuunin Exams?" Concern showed in Sakura's green eyes. "You're only eleven years old."

"I skipped a year in school," answered Hanabi. In physical appearance, she was almost a clone of her elder sister five years ago, but her personality radiated an intense, positive ambition. "Don't underestimate the Hyuuga House."

"Not at all," Sakura replied.

Hanabi and the rest of the Konoha team vanished in a blur. It was their starting signal.

"I'm taking the girl," Minoru said.

"Be careful, she has the Byakugan!" said Sakura. Her head darted to Potamos. "Hiromi, take the tall one, Yasuhiro. I'm taking the other guy."

Potamos nodded. "Yasuhiro-kun, huh?" She disappeared in a blurry mist.

Minoru stood alone on the ground. He closed his eyes. "Spirit of this great forest, lend me your strength," the elf whispered. The ground around his feet began to shake and waver, crumbs of soil wafting upward.

* * *

Hanabi softly pounced up the tree bark, careful not to make a sound. It seemed like the blond ninja from the Hidden Grass was after her. 'As long as I keep off the grass, I'll be fine,' she thought to herself. 'I just have to figure out how to attack Otoya Minoru from above. Probably a tackle.'

The preteen knew well that she was not allowed here. Her father, the great Hyuuga Hiashi, was still weary of putting her into public events like this. He would freak — for a while, anyway — when he would see her in the finals. But she wanted to make him proud.

After the Chuunin Exams four years ago, Hanabi had seen something strange: her father tutoring Neji. Hinata was happy, Neji seemed determined, Hiashi looked peacefully resigned to 'right old wrongs of the clan', as he had briefly explained to Hanabi later on.

Hanabi had been slightly relieved, for a while, that her training hours with her father tapered off. But one evening, as she watched Hiashi train Neji, she caught a glimpse of something that her father never did for her: he smiled.

Yes. Hyuuga Hiashi had been smiling. Hanabi had never thought it possible. But there he was, watching over Neji's progress, with the slightest upturn of the corner of his mouth. His nephew was ever so perfect, a prodigy even among the Hyuuga.

It had been a crushing blow to Hanabi's hidden emotions. Her father had never smiled at her when he trained her. Maybe a grunting "well done" whenever she accomplished good form, but never a real smile. It somehow hurt. Hadn't she been _something_ when she outran her sister, who was five years her senior?

Reality seemed to have spoken otherwise. Neji was her true opponent. And he was already a jounin by now.

Hanabi had sneaked into this examination by finding a genin team who had recently lost a member. She lied to the jounin instructor that her father allowed her to do this. Once things leaked out, Hiashi would surely be furious. But she wanted some acknowledgement as a fighter from him, and perhaps some praise from somebody else. She just needed to make it to the final round of the Chuunin exams. Hanabi felt ashamed and guilty that she was doing something against her father's wishes — she did love and respect him, after all — but like all young people, she itched for a change. And the Chuunin Exams, right in Konoha, was the perfect opportunity.

'There he is,' Hanabi thought, crouching on a thick branch. It had been to her surprise during the written test, when her white eyes picked up a feint outline of Minoru's body under all that green clothing. His skeletal framework told her enough. Even the naïve little Hanabi had felt a little woozy when she remembered looking at him. The Byakugan did now show her the more interesting details, but his silhouette... 'Wow,' was the only word she could think of. A cross-dresser, but a HOT cross-dresser.

She shook her head. He was her opponent, for crying out loud.

'I have to concentrate,' Hanabi thought. The grip over her kunai tightened. 'And then aim to kill!'

Just when she was about to jump down, tall columns erupted around Hanabi.

The girl had already willed her eyes to turn into a pure white, and veins spread over her upper cheekbones. With her activated vision, she jumped away. 'What are these?' she thought in alarm.

Hanabi jumped from dent to dent in the ground. The strange things bent, twisted, and reached out for her. With her inherited doujutsu, Hanabi could tell the columns were filled with strange-colored chakra, wavering from dark tan to a mellow green.

Hanabi's Byakugan penetrated the forest ground. It was harder to see, the deeper it was — but the Hyuuga swore that there were lines of ki in the earth. And the blonde ninja of the opposing team appeared to be their source. Minoru had the stillness of a tree, with his chakra spreading through the soil like roots.

Hanabi realized that they were plants. And they were not ordinary ones. They traveled quickly, both above and below earth. They had the properties of tendrils and roots, with unnatural speed.

The young Hyuuga turned her Byakugan up a notch to spread outward. She searched for her teammates. Her feet sped up the trees, evading the tendrils.

Hyuuga Hanabi then noticed something shoot up in front of her. And behind her. And all around. It was too bright. Even her Byakugan was blinded from the aura.

Her world blacked out. A cylinder of vines encased her. Hanabi screamed.

* * *

Sakura faced off against the seventeen-year-old. "Give me the scroll," she ordered. "Don't make me tackle you."

The Konoha-nin sneered. "How would you know that I have it?"

"It doesn't actually matter," Sakura said in a monotone. "I will capture you anyway. If I don't find it from your bodice after a good search, I can use your life as a ransom for your teammates."

"Excuse me?"

Sakura's gloved fist raised upward in a blur.

When it slammed on the ground, a chasm broke through the earth.

"HEY!" The seventeen-year-old panicked as he dodged the pieces of rubble. She was indeed the apprentice of the Hokage... But using him as ransom, she said? "My teammates wouldn't believe you!" he shouted. "Sure, we're in the Chuunin Exams together — but we're both Konoha ninja! Doesn't that _mean_ anything to you?"

Sakura carefully studied the boy. He was slightly older than her, but his maturity as a ninja appeared a little compromised. For his sake, she would have to fix that. "In any session of the Chuunin Exams, it is more likely that genin of the sponsoring village enter them — in this case, Konohagakure," Sakura said. "Surely, you had recognized that over half of the entrants are from the Leaf. It's only natural that you will encounter fellow villagers, like me."

Sakura's logic was sound. In any session of the Chuunin exams, the composition of genin who entered usually depended on two factors: the military might of each village, and home turf. Traveling to a distant village to take the Chuunin Exams was tiring, expensive, and most importantly, more difficult to pass because of foreign terrain. When each village got its chance to sponsor the event, its own genin were more willing to sign up for it. So of course there were many Konoha-nin entered this time around.

Her opponent made a fighting stance. "We are fighting over scrolls. But killing one's own villagers? Konoha doesn't _do_ that."

A dry laugh escaped Sakura. "That's patriotic. Because we're Konoha-nin, we are more civilized." The medic-nin flexed her fingers and rolled her shoulder, testing whether that ground-split had taken a physical toll on her arm. Everything was still intact. Good. "Now if you don't hand over the scroll," Sakura said, readying herself, "the next thing my fist goes through will be your STOMACH."

A chill when through him when he saw her piercing emerald eyes.

"Shit!" The genin pulled out several shuriken, and threw them at Sakura. She dodged all of them in a blur. "I _had_ a good opinion of you, Haruno-san!" the shinobi exclaimed in fury.

A cloud of smoke burst around him. 'Kemuridama?' he thought. The genin then remembered: in this situation, the enemy would either escape from the scene, or send a weapon in while he was temporarily blinded.

The seventeen-year-old immediately sent chakra in his legs to run out of the smoke bomb. He braced himself as he ran; he only could hope that he came out quickly enough to evade Sakura's attacks.

The smoke grew thin. To his surprise, the outline of Haruno Sakura immediately came into his vision. The air was clear when he halted in front of her.

Sakura grinned at him. She held up a scroll with the character for 'heaven' brushed on. "Thanks," she said.

The ninja's jaw dropped. Had Sakura taken his scroll so quickly while he was in the smokescreen? He had not even felt it! Absentmindedly, his hand touched the right area of his chest, the place where he had kept the heaven scroll. To his surprise, the scroll was still there. 'Wait a minute!'

Sakura's green eyes flashed. She ran up to the genin and pounced on him, making him tumbled down to the ground. She grabbed at his chest. When the kunoichi jumped off of him, two heaven scrolls were in her possession.

The genin sat, baffled. "Huh?"

"After I smoke-bombed you, I made it look like I had already taken your heaven scroll, by showing you my heaven scroll," Sakura explained. "Surprised, you automatically touched your scroll's hiding place. I could have killed you anytime I wanted, really. It was the scroll's position which I needed."

Comprehension dawned on him. That meant that their teams had had the same scrolls all along!

"Did you really think I could have searched your body so quickly in that kind of thick smoke?" asked Sakura. She snapped the two heaven scrolls into her wooden containers, which dangled around her shoulders like a bulky garland. "Kemuridama are usually used as blinding tools. Remember how light works in a dark room? If you can't see the enemy, then the enemy can't see you, either. That's why attacks within a smoke cloud are difficult to perform: you're hitting at random."

The genin was livid. "So you went after our scroll, even though you KNEW you had the same kind?"

Sakura sighed. She had no time to explain to him what 'collectors' were. Or that her team already had five official scrolls in their possession.

The ground underneath began to rumble. A crashing sound blasted out. The genin felt his limbs seize up; he was trapped before he even realized it.

'Thanks, Minoru-san,' Sakura thought. She walked up to her fellow villager, who now struggled in the tight web of vines. "Don't take it personally," the medical ninja said. "We're just making sure that you don't experience something worse than death."

From the treetops, a powerful male voice called out a chant of strange words.

The vines around the genin increased in mass, and completely engulfed the boy, drowning out his screams. The tendrils lifted up the bundle, which joined two others that already hung in a net in the canopy.

Minoru, standing up in the trees, rubbed his hands together. He sighed. "I have much too much energy at my disposal." The elf closed his eyes. As he whispered more words out, the vines around the three stretched in a river of green and brown. With a snap of Minoru's fingers, the trapped genin sank into the mass.

* * *

"Holy, fucking, shit."

The group of Kusa-nin, who had been watching everything of the fight below intensely, shook with fear.

"I warned you," Sourou mumbled.

"Be quiet!"

"I warned you," he repeated.

"Let's just leave," the leader said. His heart thudded madly. That Minoru had to be a genius in their village's techniques. Those vines were easily ten times of what Sourou could do. "We'll look for another team." They slowly backed from the edge of the cliff. "Whatever you do," he mumbled, "don't let them notice us."

A voice behind them asked, "Let _whom_ notice?"

Their minds turned to stone. They turned around, finding a girl with black-and-purple curly pigtails and headphones.

Potamos grinned. Four sharp, canine fangs were visible.

All three began to sweat. In his total fright, the leader had forgotten to resist, much less speak intelligibly. How could she have sensed them? And how did she get up here so quickly? She did not look ruffled in the slighted!

"I've come for the scrolls!" Potamos said. "...And your lives!"

* * *

Minoru and Sakura looked up at the cliff opposite them. It appeared that ice had crystallized on the edge. Screams, followed by a cheerful "I got another scroll!" echoed faintly over.

Minoru's blue eyes sharpened in irritation. 'Those were innocent ones,' he thought. He sent a mental zap.

"Okay, okay, I'll defrost them!" Potamos' tiny voice shot back, rather in a complaining tone.

Sakura looked at Minoru. "Isn't that—?"

"Those headphones she wears can receive my messages," Minoru explained. "It is almost like a psychic radio; I don't even have to speak out-loud like in a microphone."

"Oh, I kind of figured that part out," Sakura waved off. "I was talking about Hiromi defrosting. Isn't it impossible to save a human encased in ice?"

"Making an entire block of ice takes a high level of energy," Minoru answered. "She most likely only trapped them in one layer of ice. Those of her nature usually kill by holding a spell until the opponent dies. And she now has enough control to reverse frostbite."

"I see," said Sakura.

The blond elf looked at Sakura carefully. His pink-haired teammate seemed a bit down. "Is something bothering you, Sakura-san?" Minoru asked. His mouth traced a frown. "I should have known you wanted your weapon back."

Sakura jerked awake. "Oh, no," she said. "I mean, I really haven't practiced in a while. And it's being kept by someone else."

Minoru coughed. "You should know that I stored it at a shrine." Sakura's head spun around at this piece of information. "At your command, I can summon it back to you." The blond elf tapped her nose, making her blush. "But not now. You're worried that your villagers might wonder about its origins, correct?"

"It was you who picked it up," Sakura said. The kunoichi sputtered. "That means... for the past two years, you..."

"I apologize for my silence," Minoru said. "But I simply could not take the risk of traveling without a valid disguise. And the item would have received unwanted attention, simply by getting touched."

"I'm not talking about the sword anymore!" Sakura said, her voice slightly rising in indignation. "You were here, all this time?"

"And wringing my brains to memorize all flora that possess medicinal qualities in this _world_," the elf grumbled. "I've also been making connections. Many of them are rather strange." Minoru turned to her, and gave a sad smile. "I had to watch over you in secret. I saw you now and then, when you traveled to each session of the Chuunin Exams. You did well."

Sakura's heart softened at his sweet expression. 'So he was my guardian angel... Even after what I did to him...' She turned away, wondering if all the blood in her head was making her flush like a tomato.

"On the other hand, your relationship with Sasuke is becoming rather strained," Minoru said, breaking apart her reverie. "He cares about you."

The kunoichi's form stiffened. "What are you talking about?" she asked in a firm voice. Sakura was still wary of the elf's motives. She knew that Sasuke had not been getting any nightmares. After all, she had pestered the Uchiha about it right after she led him back home to Konoha. But what was with Minoru's sudden change of heart towards Sasuke?

Minoru, on the other hand, was slightly surprised with Sakura's indifference to Sasuke. Did she annihilate all her romantic fantasies? He had been sure that there was something in her... Then again, he was not a full-fledged mind reader. He only could feel immediate emotions.

'In any case, this will make things easier,' he decided. Minoru cleared his throat. "Anyway, we need to continue this mission. When we see something unusual," — the elf side-stepped, and a huge leech splattered to the ground next to him — "Well, something unusual among the genin," Minoru corrected himself, "we must be very careful in using our abilities. Especially you, Sakura-san, if you decide to take up the sword."

Sakura shook her head. "Not yet. My cover might get blown if I take it up too quickly." She stretched her arms. "Besides, Tsunade-sama taught me taijutsu. Just a bit of chakra in the right place does wonders."

"You'll wear out your joints if you use that technique too often," Minoru said.

Sakura rolled her head on her shoulders. "With good chakra control, and a diet rich in calcium and gelatin, I'll be okay."

"Gelatin?" Minoru asked, puzzled.

"For cartilage."

* * *

A kunoichi with long, black hair surveyed the forest. A rosary of dark beads tightly encircled her right hand. Her eyes were a mysterious blue.

A shriek of frustration escaped her red lips. "Why in the world are there no genin in the vicinity?" The sound echoed in the trees, scattering birds.

"The Priestess working, perhaps?" a voice said from above.

The woman looked up. She saw her teammate lying within a hammock of vines. "Don't be stupid, Koujirou; the girl would have let off a burst of aura by now," she snapped.

Koujirou sighed. His stunningly beautiful leader, Chie, had a personality which could ruin any moment of relaxation. Her face was always serene, but her demeanor was stiff and tense. Well, he did not blame her, seeing as to what befell her right hand. But still, why did she allow it to consume her? She used to be so lovely... full of charm and laughs.

(( "We're not children anymore, Koujirou — _I'm_ not a child anymore." ))

Several shrieks of a young girl echoed through the forest, breaking Koujirou's train of thought.

Chie turned away. "Hirosuke is at it again, the perverted stalker," she mumbled.

Koujirou sighed. Soon, the screams would die away, replaced by sobbing. And then — silence. He was already used to hearing it.

It disgusted Koujirou to no end, knowing what his teammate Hirosuke did to young kunoichi to 'break their spirits'. Koujirou had tried to stop him at one point. And Chie held him back, telling him not to cross Hirosuke. Hirosuke was too strong of a shinobi, she said; he would not hesitate to kill anyone who interrupted his habits.

And so Koujirou and Chie would listen.

The silence arrived.

Chie slowly descended to the ground. The body of a woman, loose clothing draped over her form, lay nearly lifeless on the ground. Hirosuke had already walked off, satisfied with his work.

"Sorry," Chie mumbled, even though the traumatized girl at her feet probably did not hear her. Chie's hands clapped together in a seal. 'I will relieve your pain soon. As well as mine... although my relief will only be temporary.'

Chie slowly inhaled. Something of a blue light pulsed within the throat of the woman lying at her feet — and then flew out of her mouth. Chie breathed in the hitodama, and swallowed.

* * *

A pair of white eyes shot open.

Hinata's breathing was heavy. Her sister's brief disappearance was worrying enough. But this chill... It was not a good sign.

The Priestess rubbed her eyes, as she looked back and forth between the two papers in her hands. In her left hand was a map of Konoha, several portions blacked out which she had marked to be free of little sister Hanabi. Her right hand was tight over the message that Warashi relayed to her.

Hinata froze in her tracks as she examined both of them. What if...

'The Chuunin Exams.'

No way. Hanabi would not do such a thing against her father's wishes. She had never disobeyed him in her life.

Yet her little sister was also human. Hanabi had the capacity to rebel.

If Hinata's theory were correct, her father would be very pissed off.

But what made Hinata tremble was the possibility of what her little sister would experience. Hanabi was good in fighting, but she was not used to other things. Like death. Or something worse.

Without second thought, the dark-haired girl turned her heels. She ran in the direction towards the Forest.

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	14. Wilting Flower and Burning Tree

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

TimeShifter: ack, you're right! I totally forgot to include Naruto and Sasuke in chapter 13, when I promised them in the endnotes for 12. Thus, will I make it up.

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 14: Wilting Flower and Burning Tree

* * *

A green bundle, shaped like a dinosaur egg, twitched in a sea of vines. It stopped. It twitched again.

Something poked out of the leafy shell. It was tiny ray of blue light. The skin of the bundle tore apart from it, and girl burst out.

Hanabi took in a great gulp of air. "I'm... alive," she barely gasped. The girl had pushed energy through her chakra pores to escape.

Slowly regaining her senses, the child looked at her surroundings. The red tint of the sky signaled evening. Hanabi sat in the middle of what was the biggest heap of vines she had ever seen.

Without warning, the heap began to move.

Hanabi shrieked and grabbed tightly to a thick tendril. Her Byakugan eyes spotted the egg-shaped objects attached to some of the thicker-looking tendrils. When her advanced vision penetrated them, Hanabi realized that they were _people_, wrapped up in leaves and unconscious. There were bands of metal around their heads — hitai-ate — indicating that they were ninja.

Of course they were ninja, the young Hyuuga remembered. They were in the Forest of Death, taking the Chuunin Exams.

On a different note... why were the tendrils now crawling upward against a very tall, chain-link fence?

Hanabi awkwardly tumbled downward as the vines slid up the fence. Some of the smaller tendrils tangled with her black hair. With an annoyed huff, Hanabi powered up chakra in her hands and cut the plants apart. She still had plant pieces in her hair, but at least her scalp had not been ripped off.

The girl struggled to get out. She stumbled upon a patch of normal grass, with relief like that of a shipwrecked sailor on a warm beach.

Leaving Hanabi behind, the vines proceeded to lay the twenty unconscious ninja outside the gates, softly onto the earth. The genin were still alive; their life energy pulsed healthily. In fact, the wraps of leaf seemed to pump extra ki into the unconscious ninja, as if healing them.

Hanabi's fingers hooked around the links of the fence. Her teammates were on the other side. She could easily go and retrieve them, especially with this slothful river moving up and over the fence... She could continue, if she wanted to.

But something told her that was supposed to be over _there_.

Her fingers tightened around the wire. It felt like a weight dropped into her stomach. What was she _doing_ here? She stood unaided in the Forest of Death. But what would happen afterward, at the Hyuuga mansion — that was much worse.

The punishment would be sore enough for her sneaking into the Chuunin Exams. That much Hanabi had already calculated, and risked upon. But with the circumstances now, what would she tell the family? That she lost? That she was almost tied up and dragged out of the gates, probably because of _pity?_

The little girl felt something roll down her cheek.

Up above her, a shadow flicked.

Hanabi quickly wiped her eyes, and pulled out a kunai at the attacker. She was ready for anything.

Hyuuga Hinata landed on the ground. "Hanabi! Are you alright?"

Well, almost everything.

Hanabi just stared.

Hinata stopped in her tracks when she saw the expression on her little sister's face. "...Hanabi?"

The kunai dropped from Hanabi's hand. "Ane-ue..." She suddenly ran up to her older sister, and did something which she had not done for several years — she cried against her. "ANE-UE!"

Hinata was silent. Instead of showing surprise at Hanabi's outburst of emotion, or giving a scold as was traditional in the Hyuuga mansion, she returned the embraced. Hinata was only glad that her sister was safe.

"I... I lost! Chichi-ue — Father — he's going to kill me, Ane-ue..." Hanabi sobbed. When she felt Hinata's gentle hand stroke the back of her head, she cried even more. Hinata had always been the closest thing to a mother figure for Hanabi. "I'm a... failure..."

"Hanabi, it's okay," the Priestess whispered. Hinata knew how much Hanabi needed this: just a person to cry to. Because of the rigid class structure within the clan, and with so much influence from her father, Hanabi had always felt obliged to keep a straight face. "You're not a failure."

Hanabi only hiccupped. "Sakura-san's... team... They were so..."

Hinata sighed. 'Of course.' Hinata was no fool when she worked with Sakura, on the battlefield and in the hospital wing. Yes, Sakura was kind, had charisma when it came to healing the wounded, and enthusiastic to get missions done. Yet every now and then, it seemed as though the girl were hiding something, an ominous strength under a veil of sadness.

Hinata thought it through. When Hanabi's sobbing died down to no more than nervous gulps, she spoke up. "Hanabi, if you want to keep on going with this, I won't stop you," she said. Her younger sister looked up, surprised. "But... I have a feeling that these Chuunin Exams could be cancelled."

Hanabi looked stumped in confusion.

Hinata bit her lip. How was she going to talk Hanabi out of this? 'A ghost-child relayed a message, which might possibly be saying that monsters have infiltrated the exams.' No. 'If you run into youkai, your soul could literally get sucked out of her body.' Each new explanation looked more outrageous than the last.

Hanabi looked upon the mass of vines. She somehow understood already what Hinata was trying to say: this was too abnormal. They were not from an ordinary genin, not even chuunin.

A breeze passed through the trees above. Hinata felt a strange aura come near.

'The battle has started, Priestess.'

At the sound of the voice, Hinata pushed her Byakugan to the second stage. She checked around for its source.

The image of an armored man with long, black hair wavered out of a tree. Hinata gave a slight nod of her head in respect to him.

Hanabi, meanwhile, felt slightly chilled as she saw her older sister's profile: Hinata's irises were glowing an unusual white. Instead of the insecurity she had been used to seeing from Hinata, there was almost a powerful sort of tranquility. Hanabi did not dare speak up.

'The one who bears the Hardened Soul is in my forest.'

Hinata swallowed a bit. "Your are... the spirit of this forest," she whispered. The Priestess was surprised that his appearance was so... humanlike. She had been expecting that such a guardian of the forest, if it ever existed, would take the form of an animal. Instead, the being looked more like a clone of the First Hokage. 'The Hardened Soul,' Hinata thought. 'That must be what the message was speaking of.'

'Lead the child out of the Forest,' he ordered, pointing a finger at Hanabi. 'Do not allow her to die just yet. She will later be an important force for this village's protection.'

Hinata inwardly smiled. Hanabi would not be forever disgraced for this little act of rebellion, even among the Hyuuga. She was a strong kunoichi. It was just that Hanabi had to step down for this one — monsters were not on the agenda for those taking Chuunin Exams. And if Hiashi did not allow his younger daughter to try out for the next session, Hinata would personally sneak Hanabi in herself.

'When you approach him who carries the item of the Hardened Soul, I advise caution: he is not the most gentlemanly among mortals.'

"Um... sir?" Hinata needed more details, like the physical features of the person who held the object, or what the object looked like.

'I wish you luck, Priestess. I am only honored that one of Konoha has been chosen for such a position.' Without another word, the apparition jumped up through the leaves. His spirit blended into the vast mixture of life of the Forest of Death, and he was gone.

Hinata gave a depressed sigh. So much for asking for details. She still had difficulty in bringing out questions, as she did not like to challenge or bother anyone. 'Maybe I should join a forensics club to get some experience in speaking; Naruto-kun says I'm good in poetry... Wait, how would poetry help? Oh, I really don't know if the spirits chose right when they picked me!'

Hinata turned to the side. Well, even if she were assigned to find the Hardened Soul or whatnot, she still had a younger sister to take care of. "Hanabi, are you ready to go?"

It was said in the sweetest, purest tone, and Hinata's face was ever gentle. Yet Hanabi seized up in renewed fright.

Hinata finally realized what her little sister was afraid of. Not foreign ninja, not the Chuunin Exams, and not even failure. It was facing Hyuuga Hiashi alone.

"Hanabi," the elder Hyuuga soothed, "I'll tell Otou-san that I pushed you into doing it."

Hanabi froze as she realized what Hinata was offering: to take the punishment with her. Without permission, Hanabi discarded the official term of 'Ane-ue' for Hinata. "Onee-sama, don't do it! That... that won't work; his eyes can detect _any_ lie!"

"Which is exactly why it'll work," Hinata said. "He'll see my guilt of lying, and he'll see your guilt for..." — She glanced at the mass of gigantic vines next to them — "this. That way, we'll be punished together."

Hanabi's lavender eyes blinked.

The older girl put up a finger to her mouth in thought. "Otou-sama will probably shut us up in the same room. It's his form of grounding, as wider spaces are more for 'important' people in our mansion." A sweet smile graced Hinata's lips. "It'll be just like a slumber party. I'll sneak in some dango. Okay, Hanabi?"

Hanabi gaped at the somewhat... _wicked_ playfulness in her older sister's plan. A dead tendril dropped from her hair. "Onee-sama... Uzumaki-san has changed you. A lot."

A blush crept over Hinata's cheeks. "Yes..." She coughed. "Now Hanabi, listen carefully," Hinata said, her voice suddenly turning official. "I need you to climb up this vines, and immediately find Mitarashi Anko, the head examiner. Tell her we have about twenty unconscious genin outside the gates; they need to be taken care of by medic-nin. I'll meet you at the hospital." Hinata straightened herself up, and turned towards the Forest.

Hanabi began to grow nervous. "Where are you going?"

"As a chuunin, I'm obliged to start an investigation," Hinata answered. Twenty genin had been dumped out of the gates. Plus, the warning from the Forest Spirit was her own mission. Hinata read the worried look on her sister's face. "I won't pick fights with other ninja, Hanabi. This is an exam for genin only, after all. Come here, I'll hoist you up on these vines: they're still sturdy."

After Hanabi slide down on a tendril over the other side, she saw her older sister already jumping through the forest trees. She then started off towards the meeting ground. The best thing she could do now was to find Anko, and get reinforcements for Hinata.

* * *

The sky of the evening was a fiery orange-red, which slowly deepened to a cool purple of night. Its fading light broke through the tree, and crashed over a stream.

Six rolls of papyrus dropped to the ground between Sakura, Minoru, and Potamos. Four had the character for -Heaven- painted on their covers; the other two, -Earth-.

"The total number of teams who initially entered this second round was thirty-three," Sakura said. "But to pass, one must have both scrolls. Which means only sixteen can possibly make it."

Minoru counted the scrolls. "If we destroy or keep these, at least four more teams of those sixteen will go out."

"Destroy them?" Potamos whined. "Anko-sama said that there was compensation for those who got extra scrolls!"

'Anko-_sama?_' Minoru unscrewed his water bottle, and pushed the nose into the nearby stream. "I think Mitarashi Anko lied about compensation."

"Why would she do that?" Potamos asked, highly unconvinced.

"In order to give people like _you_ an incentive to attack and kill genin in excess," Minoru calmly explained.

Potamos placed a hand on her chin. "That oddly makes sense..." Her transformed brown eyes caught a few shadows in the water, flicking mid-stream.

Sakura refilled her own water bottle in the brook. "Still, we did great for the first day," Sakura said, a look of relief on her face. She dropped a sanitizing pill into her bottle. "Maybe the attention we drew in the written exam made us look like easy bait. Thanks to that, we got six scrolls."

"That was exactly my plan!" Potamos twirled a kunai between her fingers. "As we displayed ourselves as three dirty-playing kunoichi — and don't deny that you enjoy it a bit, Mino-chan — any revenge-bent or sexist idiots would automatically go after us in a battle-scene!"

"Funny," Minoru drawled. "I had thought you were reciting that controversial statement to show off."

"Well, maybe a little bit of that, too," Potamos said with a giggle. She carefully dipped a toe on the edge of the babbling brook. Satisfied, Potamos walked on the unstable surface to midstream. She knelt down like a nymph on the water's surface. The purple-haired girl suddenly lashed into the deep, and her arms resurfaced with three energetic fish. "Oooh, they're lively, aren't they?" she cooed. The water-demon called to her teammates standing on the shore. "Dinner time. Get ready for a fish fry!"

"Kawanami Hiromi," the blond elf murmured. "She chose a fitting name. Maybe too fitting." Minoru picked up the heaven and earth scrolls, and tucked them in various pockets of his outfit. "I think it would be best if I hold and guard these now. I'll go harvest some of the edible plants and berries in the vicinity."

Sakura watched Minoru walk off. Wanting to make herself useful, the kunoichi looked around for firewood. She spotted a fallen tree a distance away in the woods: its dry branches would be just right for a fire. She walked towards it, brushing her pink hair behind her ear.

Up above, a pair of wide, blood-shot eyes trailed Sakura's walking form.

Sakura's emerald eyes turned hard, and glanced up. She felt an unknown presence.

Nothing but green leaves was in her sight. The slight brush of fleeing echoed faintly through the breeze. 'They ran away.' The medic-nin's hands folded over her shoulders, as if cold had overtaken her. 'I can't be afraid. I'm not alone. Minoru-san and Potamos are by my side again...'

Something told Sakura that she should have went after that unknown enemy and killed him on the spot.

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto stood in front of the gates to the Forest of Death. "Why are we again?" Sasuke asked.

"Hinata-chan needs help!"

"A troop of ANBU were sent in," Sasuke said. "Unless it involves youkai, we have no business here." He turned an angry face at Naruto. "And speaking of which: we just passed the entrance exams for ANBU-training, and our first class is tomorrow. If we do anything stupid like this now, _I'll_ get kicked out."

Naruto groaned. "Jeez, you selfish ANBU-wannabe. What's with your sudden adherence to rules?"

Sasuke's face remained firm. "I need those classes, so no rule-breaking."

'You had enough guts to break plenty of rules before — like swearing your allegiance to Orochimaru,' Naruto silently commented. Naruto refrained from mentioning it out-loud, however; he knew it well to be a sore issue for Sasuke. Instead, the blond offered something more appealing to Sasuke's tastes to bribe him in: "If we go in, we could observe how Sakura-chan's doing."

Sasuke brushed some dirt from his sleeve. "For what? If she's good enough, we'll see her anyway in the final tournament."

"Not her fighting, Bastard. I mean how she's getting along with her team. You told me that they're quite suave in espionage." Naruto acted out a worried sigh. "With their experience, I wonder how they'd be treating Sakura-chan in the Forest. Maybe even bullying. Girls can be mean..."

Sasuke frowned. "What are you talking about?" Sasuke was rather ignorant when it came to matters of the 'gentle' sex. When things got too tense, girls used social isolation and teasing to hurt other girls, instead of physically brawling things out and laughing afterwards like guys. Sasuke, even though he observed things superbly during ninja missions, never paid attention to the social habits of females in a normal setting — or any social habits, for that matter. Sasuke was a lone wolf, and preferred to stay that way.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. He walked up to the chain-link fence. "Fine," he said, climbing upward. "Go home. I don't need you."

Sasuke immediately turned around to leave.

Naruto's feet hit the ground on the other side. "Oh, and if Sakura-chan happens to be bathing: I'll make sure to get pictures for you."

Sasuke's foot halted. Something of a battle aura grew within him. It died down, however.

"Don't do it," Sasuke finally said, in the calmest voice possible. "For one, I'm not interested." Sasuke heard a loud snort from Naruto — and in the back of his mind, the avenger swore there was a voice commenting that if any male saw Sakura like that, it should be _Sasuke_ and Sasuke only. Ignoring both, the teenager continued: "And two, that's low. Even for you, Idiot."

Naruto held a cheery face. "Hm. If you don't want pictures of Sakura, I'm sure I can sell them to Thick Eyebrows for a price."

Sasuke twitched. He took a good breath, as Reason again tamed his soul. "Like you would try. He would murder you on the spot."

Damn, he saw through the bait. "Oh...Of course," Naruto said through gritted teeth. He paused, then sighed in defeat. "You're right, Sasuke."

The Uchiha gave a tiny smirk as he walked away. Finally, his best friend saw some light of truth. Honestly, did Naruto really think such threats would work? None of them made sense. Lee would not dream of buying such pictures; he would more likely burn them after smashing the photographer into the ground. And Naruto would not take them in the first place, because he was hopelessly infatuated with Hinata.

And even if Naruto took such pictures, Sasuke would not have them. Sasuke was a proper shinobi, the hardest diamond, an Unmoved Mover.

"You're absolutely right, Sasuke!" Naruto called. "I could get WADS of cash if I offered them to Jiraiya or Kakashi instead!"

Naruto heard several footsteps behind him, and the clinks of chain. Sasuke landed in the Forest of Death.

Naruto whistled. "Wow, that was quick."

"Don't. You. Dare." Sasuke glared at Naruto's face. The idea of the infamous village perverts buying nude snapshots of the closest female friend Sasuke had (actually, the only female friend he had) made his blood boil.

The Kyuubi's vessel burst into laughter. "I was just kidding. But I knew that you'd defend her honor like that!" Naruto threw his head back, ducking the swing of Sasuke's arm.

As he staggered back to the chain-link fence, Naruto pulled something out of his jacket — a piece of paper, with strange characters written on. He touched its center with a little chakra, and pasted it onto the fence: each of the metal links jolted with energy, like ripples of water.

Sasuke realized that he just might have fallen into a trap. "That was..."

"It's a fuda that makes any metal barrier into an electric fence." A canine grin showed Naruto's triumph. "Its voltage isn't lethal, but you'll be out for a good time if you touch it. This one is set to last for about... three hours." Naruto looked upward, studying the foliage above. "Oh, that means you can't go back out until nightfall, Bastard. SORRY."

The raven-haired chuunin huffed. "Fine," he snapped, angry that he had been snowballed into this. Sasuke was trapped for the time being, and had nothing better to do. "But do NOT let yourself be seen, either by genin or ANBU. Idiot." He took off with chakra in his legs, sprinting through the trees.

Naruto collected chakra into his legs, and jumped after Sasuke. A low snort wavered out of his nose. Sasuke had not even interrogated Naruto if he knew how to cancel that seal — which he did, actually.

* * *

Hinata's form wobbled. She had underestimated her capability for the Byakugan. Keeping it on all the time, just for security reasons in a vast forest like this one, took a lot of chakra.

'I should just turn it on and off periodically,' she thought.

The veins on Hinata's cheeks smoothed away, leaving only pale skin. She waited around five seconds, allowing her normal vision to adjust to the night. With renewed energy, she sprang up into the trees. Within the tresses of her dark, midnight hair, Hinata's pretty white face glowed like a second moon.

She could feel a different power. It was coming up; the Harden Soul or whatever it was called. Her holy sight had seen a circular object in this direction.

'I should have looked at the pun of the words!' Hinata mentally berated herself. ' The word _tama_ means a spherical jewel or ball, but it can also symbolize a soul — hence, hitodama. The Hardened Soul must be a jewel-like object.'

She was almost there. Even without the Byakugan on, Hinata could sense the item's location; the strange aura tinged the air. Once she was in good vicinity, she would slowly activate her Byakugan, and do a grab-and-run maneuver. She winced that she might have to forcefully steal it from someone... But the object might endanger people if the wielder was ignorant of its powers. Besides, why would a genin possess such an item in the first place?

Her sandaled feet skidded on the ground. Now was the time for another analysis. Her hands flicked in order to activate the Byakugan.

Before she could make the last hand-seal, a hand clamped over her mouth. Another made a crushing grip over her fingers, preventing her from doing any seals. Hinata forced the Byakugan out with sheer will: she saw a hideous man leer at her.

"What do we have here?" he asked. "A Konoha kunoichi, all alone." He took once glance at the ominous veins around her eyes. He spat in disgust. "Ugly face. But at least your body is good."

When his hand roughly grabbed her hip, Hinata realized what he meant. Her eyes shut tight. 'Hakke Kaiten!'

The girl spun around with chakra. It wasn't as good as her father's, or Neji's, but it was strong enough to make the genin fly off. He hit a nearby tree at an odd angle. The man slowly got up from his trip, grabbing onto its bark for support. A shot of pain went through his wrist. "Argh!"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Hinata peeped — and then caught herself. He had actually tried to fondle her. "I mean, how dare you!"

His demeanor began to glow with poisonous rage. This little hussy had defied him, and actually succeeded to push him away and twist his wrist.

"Hinata-chan, don't apologize to him!" Naruto landed on top of the genin's head, administering the gravity-induced-double-kick of a lifetime. The genin poofed into a log — Naruto saw the real one fleeing from the scene. "Not so fast," he whispered, getting ready to attack.

Sasuke appeared, and stood in Naruto's way. "Stop it. Dolt."

"Move it, Sasuke; that bastard touched Hinata-chan!" Naruto growled. "He will _die_!"

Hinata's face turned crimson as she watched Naruto throw a fit. It was quite flattering that he would show a protective side, but... "Naruto-kun, please don't shout, we might get found..."

Sasuke's eyes caught a gleam in the moonlight. A flying blade.

"Duck!" he shouted. The chuunin roughly pushed Hinata and Naruto down. They heard the hum of metal against air, followed by a large thud.

"Tsch." Hirosuke was disappointed that his attack missed. He appeared next to the imbedded weapon, and yanked it out. 'Seems like I should plant a seedling; these ninja would work.' Hirosuke threw a pill-like object into the hole of a nearby tree. He then sped off with chakra in his legs.

"Sasuke, you let him get away!" Naruto snarled.

Sasuke got up from the ground. "No attacking. We're not even supposed to show ourselves." Much as he agreed that the genin deserved a thrashing, their goal was to retrieve Hinata unharmed. And they did it.

Naruto decided that arguing with Sasuke was futile. Instead, he turned to his girlfriend. "Hinata-chan, are you okay?" he asked softly. "Did he hurt you?"

Hinata shivered. That groping was still fresh in her mind; she had never felt so violated and dirty in her entire life. "I'm fine. It was my fault for not turning on my Byakugan at the right time..." She felt Naruto's embrace, and realized she had been trembling.

A large pulse of aura thudded through the air. Sasuke stared at the old tree near them. His eyes flashed into the Sharingan.

The tree's roots began to heave themselves out of the soil, throwing chunks of dirt into the air. A branch bent and stretched at an odd angle — and flew towards the three chuunin.

Sasuke quickly jumped out of the way. Naruto grabbed a hold of Hinata before kicking off. The long limb slammed onto the ground like a large whip.

A mysterious dark substance boiled within the gap of the tree. It slowly jelled up, hardening into the resemblance of a face. It turned its glowing eyes on Hinata's form.

A morbid thrill rushed into Sasuke as he saw the tree mutate. If he was up against wood, then there was only one type of elemental jutsu to use. An Uchiha specialty.

Sasuke's hands motioned the seals. Heat collected in his lungs.

'Katon: Housenka no jutsu!' (Fire-style: Mythical Fire Flower Technique)

A storm of fireballs hailed onto the tree. The canopy caught ablaze. Sasuke's form gracefully landed on the ground. 'Easy.'

One burning whip swung after him. He dodged. Another slammed down, and Sasuke rolled away. 'Shit! It's still alive, even on fire...' He focused on the suspicious face in the trunk's hollow, and prepared another technique.

'Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu!' (Fire-style: Dragon Fire Technique)

Sasuke's inferno concentrated itself into one line, and fired directly into the sculpted miasma face of the tree. A raspy yell escaped its mouth.

One root burst out of the ground near Sasuke. He skillfully side-stepped the tendril as it tumbled towards him. He began to separate from Hinata and Naruto. "Hyuuga, go in there and do it quick!" Sasuke shouted. "I'll distract it!"

Hinata nodded, and got ready to run into the center. But something held her back. Naruto's hand was tight around her wrist.

"Hinata-chan, let me clear a path." Naruto straightened himself, and positioned his hands. The few patches of unturned grass now burned heartily thanks to Sasuke's flares. 'Damn him. And people say _I'm_ a show-off.' Naruto improvised on a small, practice-version of a water technique, forcing just enough condensation from the atmosphere to dampen the soil. The fire hissed out.

Hinata folded her hands together. Her eyes let off a glow.

She then halted mid-sequence. Her fingers began to shake. "I... I can't find it."

Naruto sliced off one flailing branch with a heavy kunai that Kakashi gave him as a present. "What do you mean, you can't find it?" Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who was now becoming visibly tired as a decoy.

"I used up too much chakra," Hinata whispered. "My eyes can see an outline of ki, but that's all! Plus, this youkai doesn't have any hitodama, so there's not strong pinpoint for where it keeps souls!"

"What?" Naruto asked in a hoarse whisper. He passed his hands over his vest, sensing for any pill-case. "Don't you have a Hyourougan on you, Hinata-chan?" She shook her head vigorously.

"Hyuuga, what the _hell_ are you doing!" Sasuke shouted. One charred branch latched onto his shoulder. It was still hot; the heat burned off the top layer of his clothing. A pained hiss escaped through his teeth. Partly out of desperation, he stabbed a kunai into the branch. When that produced no immediate reaction, he gripped the handle tightly and sent chakra through. The blue glow sizzled through: the branch loosened from his shoulder. He was free.

Sasuke then felt a second branch spike the back of his neck. It had hit a pressure point. The raven-haired ninja slumped to the ground on his knees. 'Damn it! Calm down... Just redirect the chakra to a different artery that will lead to the muscles. Orochimaru said that it was like a detour on a road.'

Sasuke's left arm slowly made its way to the neck. His finger came over the site to dispel the paralysis. Yet before he could cure himself, a third branch clamped around his hand. It then crawled around his neck.

Sasuke choked as he was lifted off the ground. "Uchiha-san!" Hinata cried out.

The miasma slithered out of the tree's gap, molding into the shape of a woman. Its arms drew in the boy's struggling form as the tree-branches presented the offering.

Sasuke felt a pair of terribly cold and stiff hands cup his cheeks. As the youkai gripped on his head, Sasuke noticed that its visage was that of a statue: emotionless, and cold. The monster pulled his face closer.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted.

The Uchiha wanted to gag as lips of bark touched his own. Yet the feeling of disgust immediately died away. The tree-monster had sucked out his soul.

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	15. Keeping Up Appearances

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Wow, 200 reviews. Thank you! I guess labeling a story with a pairing helps. My last story had no official pairing stated in the summary. Romance attracts people, I guess.

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 15: Keeping Up Appearances

* * *

Sakura had no idea what to say, as she stood in a tree watching the scene. Hinata and Naruto were down there, in the Forest of Death, with Sasuke. And a tree-youkai.

The pink-haired kunoichi swallowed. Minor demons, she could handle. That mutated tree was not yet fully developed; it was probably an underling seed. Sakura could, if she wanted, mosey down there and attack the damn thing. Pull out the seedling, everything done.

Except that in this situation, it would be in the presence of humans. And not only that, her friends of her own village. They would call her a freak, a witch, a...

Sakura inhaled sharply as the branch paralyzed Sasuke. The tree-youkai lifted him up like some rag-doll. Was not Uchiha Sasuke supposed to be a genius in the shinobi arts? Well, the shinobi arts and demon-slaying each required slightly different skills, but they were similar enough!

'Damn it, Sasuke!' Sakura trembled. 'Fight it, please. Don't make me come down there.'

And then the miasma sculpture kissed him.

Sakura's fingers quivered as she watched the deep touch. She knew exactly what the demon was doing, and it was sure as hell not trying to give Sasuke pleasure. It just wanted to absorb negative emotions for its own energy. The anguish Sasuke had felt through his wretched life would be perfect for the monster.

Sasuke's body sprawled on the ground, his dark eyes dilated and lifeless. A shout of anger escaped Naruto.

Sakura heard herself whisper one word: "Tennyo."

A sheathed katana warped in front of the medic-nin. Sakura held down a gasp. Minoru's aura tingled her back. 'So that's how it works. Minoru can summon her.'

Without further thought, Sakura plucked the hovering weapon from the air. The instant her fingers laced over the hilt, a river of memories rushed into her, all the skills and techniques she had experienced with this blade. That phantasmagorical review-session from that unknown man, Sakura decided, turned out to be worthwhile.

The katana named Tennyo slid out cleanly from the scabbard. "Heavenly Maiden." Sakura raised the blade up. "It's been a while."

* * *

Naruto ran to Sasuke's prone form. "Sasuke!" he snarled. He checked Sasuke's vital signs — breathing and pulse were there. He sensed a branch coming. The blond tried to pull his best friend out of the way, but Sasuke's body seemed to weigh a ton.

Naruto cursed. He made a couple of hand-seals, and swiped the air directly above Sasuke with his fingers.

"Riaton: Denryuu no Kago!" (Lightning-style: Electric Current Cage)

Lines of pure white electricity shot out from Naruto's palm, like a web from a spider. A dome formed around and encased Sasuke's body. Naruto jumped away before a branch whipped at him. The branch hit the protective electric coffin, and immediately recoiled with the burn.

Hearing crunching sounds, Naruto carefully looked up. One tree limb was slowly bending down, sagging. The leaves had taken a rock-like appearance, a collection of sagging crystal knives. 'Shit,' Naruto thought, 'More projectiles.'

Hinata shifted into the Jyuuken stance. "Naruto-kun, I think I can do it now," she called out. "I can see Uchiha-san's hitodama." The instant Sasuke's soul had been swallowed, it traveled into what finally could be called the gut of the youkai. That was what the monster's own soul was, if it could be called such a thing. Hinata still was confused about the metaphysics of a demon, but she had no time to think on the matter. Sasuke needed his soul in his rightful body, as quickly as possible.

Naruto suddenly felt a burst of cold energy approaching him from behind. It snaked around his ankles, the legs, and pinned him on the ground. 'Hey, that was way too fast!' When Naruto craned his head to the side, he saw that his feet were securely glued to the ground by ice.

Ice? Trees couldn't control ice; they would burst with the swelling of freezing water. And the aura permeating the ice... screamed of _evil_.

**'BEGONE, LOWLY DEMON!'**

Well, a lesser evil.

'Lowly?' Naruto thought with a snort. 'Are you talking about the ice, or the tree... or you? I had no idea you could curse yourse—' With fury, Kyuubi's energy thudded in the vessel. "Urgh!" He had only been kidding!

Naruto tried desperately to cover himself, to hide the nature of his changing aura. He didn't want to show himself to Hinata with red canine eyes, fangs, and ugly facial scars. After the fight with Neji years back, Naruto found out that Hinata had passed out during the last part of the battle, right _before_ he tapped into the fox-demon's chakra (which had been the most critical part of the whole dual!). The thought of explaining to his girlfriend exactly what kind of monstrosity resided within him: it terrified more than any S-rank criminal. The recent revelation that she was a holy, shaman-like being — the Priestess of Souls — would probably ruin their relationship.

If Hinata came any closer, she would see him. But she was the Priestess. He was trapped in ice. She needed protection.

With a shout, Naruto let off a huge burst of blue aura. The force shattered the ice into a million pieces. Warmth rushed back into his numb legs. As his chakra died down, a wisp of red momentarily showed before flickering out completely.

Naruto turned his face toward his girlfriend, and saw something lash from behind her. "Hinata-chan, watch out!"

Hinata peeped as a flexible knar wrapped around her ankle. It pulled her quickly down to the ground; she did not even have time to scream. She kicked it off — only to find that it had already disappeared in a hole.

A large hum shot through the air.

Before Naruto and Hinata realized it, half of the monster canopy crashed down. The hardened black leaves shattered with impact; their dark aura sizzled out before scattering into bits of crumbled dry leaf. The branches that fell on top of the electric barrier protecting the unconscious Sasuke were either fried or repelled.

A second whip echoed. Naruto and Hinata held onto the ground as the gust of wind passed like a group of furies.

A diagonal cut suddenly opened up on the human-shaped miasma, as if an invisible blade went through it. The youkai let off a scream.

The creature melted back into miasma, slowing to a gurgle. Hinata trembled. "What... what was that?" she asked Naruto. The muck dribbled out of the tree's hollow, only to hiss out of existence once it touched the ground.

"A wind jutsu, I think," Naruto said. "Gaara's older sister can do that with a kamaitachi." Naruto looked behind for the source, expecting ninja from the Hidden Sand Village to reveal themselves. Nobody was there. He then took a moment to consider something: "Where did Sasuke's hitodama go?"

The dark-haired Priestess looked nervous. "I think it flew away."

* * *

(( "Hey, don't push yourself!" ))

A raven-haired boy sat within darkness. His eyes were blank. He could hear voices.

(( "Keep this up and become a fine shinobi like your older brother." ))

Sasuke raised a palm to his forehead. How in the world did he get here? It was unfamiliar, yet familiar. He never remembered being in a place like this in real life. Even the darkest of caves, into which Orochimaru shoved him for training, had more light and sound. But the atmosphere tasted like daily food.

(( "But, the conversations in here alone... When he talks to me, your father only talks about you. And because of that... he's always awkward with you." ))

As the voices — no, memories — permeated Sasuke's subconsciousness, they grew louder. And louder.

(( "Sasuke... Don't come in..." ))

Sasuke's hands gripped tighter on his shoulders. He had felt this, heard this, countless times before — whether it was dream, or illusion. He had to brace himself for the onslaught.

(( "Foolish little brother... If you want to kill me, then hate me! Despise me! And then live in an unsightly way..." ))

"Go away," Sasuke growled. Yet the voices came, over and over... "Go AWAY!"

'Do you really want that?' A woman's voice, sultry and comforting, entered the domain. Slowly, the phrases that ingrained in Sasuke's mind over the years — they were pulled out, strand by strand. 'Your pain, is my pleasure.'

Sasuke froze. On the one hand, he felt sort of relieved. But weren't those phrases the meaning of his existence thus far? And this female's voice was not familiar to him. His pain, her pleasure?

The voice gave a gentle laugh at his suspicion. 'No, I am not a sadist. I am a spirit which takes away bad memories.'

Sasuke felt strange. He did not feel any better, now that he thought about it. He shivered within the darkness. There was none of the control he usually had, the control that he had rigidly strengthened over the years. Who the hell was this woman?

'I can take it a step further, if you permit me. Don't you want to rest from your hard life? It is easy, and peaceful, over on the other side.'

Sasuke blinked. Other side? What in the world was she talking about? He couldn't think straight. 'Wait, is the other side—'

'Just envelope yourself. Let down the defenses around your soul. I can ease your —'

The voice turned into an ear-splitting cry, as if the speaker had suddenly been attacked.

The environment around Sasuke shattered apart. But instead of the darkness, where it was at least safe and closed from the outside world, Sasuke was plunged into an overwhelming bright light. It was too sterile and empty. His support crumbled; he was falling.

And something caught him. A pair of strong arms wrapped around his chest from behind.

* * *

Sakura breathed. 'That was too close.'

Her palms glowed with a distinct pink aura, as she held a sphere of shimmering blue light: the manifestation of her friend's soul.

'I really need more practice,' she decided with a grimace. On the first try with her sword attack, she had slashed the tree-youkai in the wrong place, letting half of the canopy almost crush Naruto and Hinata. The second swing was more accurate, landing a blade of air deep enough to split the miasma and free Sasuke's essence. But the wind that came with the attack had blasted the hitodama away. Sakura was forced to run after it like a child chasing a firefly.

Her kendo and iaido needed more finesse, too. She had to adjust her power input with those blasts; the fatigue was beginning to overwhelme her. And to add further inconvenience, an ANBU troop was headed this way.

Potamos landed next to Sakura. "Good catch, Sacchan!"

Minoru touched the ground. "We distracted his teammates right before you sent in your attack," the blond said. "You had good aim for a veteran." He waited for Sakura to release the hitodama of her former teammate. Instead, she seemed to hesitate. "Sakura-san?"

Sakura's emerald eyes blinked. For a moment there, she had sworn that she felt some sort of gentle touch on her face and neck. As if someone had been embracing her. The imaginary gesture had been with so much passion, and need...

The medical ninja shook her head. It was her mind playing tricks on her. "Of course, Minoru-san." Carefully, her glowing palms drew apart, slowly letting go the sphere that composed of Sasuke's inner being. Sakura carefully shot some gentle aura against it, in the direction of where Naruto and Hinata were. With a good push, any hitodama would automatically seek out the original body and reunite with it. "That should do it."

Three seconds after take-off, Sasuke's essence did something totally unexpected: it swerved a U-turn. What was even more bizarre was when the sphere of light edged itself towards the fading glow of Sakura's hands. It trailed onto her cheek and throat.

"Wha...?" Sakura's face flushed with the sudden warmth. She had never seen a hitodama act like this before. The sphere caressed the skin around her neck. It rolled lower, and lower.

Minoru sniggered. Potamos squealed. "Aw, that's so cute! Sasuke's so enthusiastic to bury himself within Sacchan's breasts, even though his body is almost in a coma!"

"He's going into my _hands_ because of the calming technique," Sakura explained to Potamos through gritted teeth. "They just so happened to be near my chest!" She pushed the hitodama upward: it did not sever contact. She began waving her hand. It still did not let go. "Damn it, this is like static electricity!"

The grin on Potamos widened.

Red flushed into Sakura's cheeks. Slowly, the kunoichi felt the discomfort slowly turning into a guilty pleasure. The hitodama was like a fluffy ball of warmth, although Sakura also noticed some bitter sparks planted in it at various places.

Privately, Minoru theorized that it was both the magic and Sakura's aura that attracted Sasuke's hitodama to her. Her invention of a calming technique probably gave something of a temporary shelter for the boy's otherwise rigid personality.

Sakura gave the hitodama another push. It was kind of cute that a part of Sasuke could act like a buoyant furball of a pet — but he seriously needed to take control of his own life again. Revenge and clan and blah, blah, blah. "Go on, Sasuke," she coaxed. "You've got to keep on living."

With a reluctant wobble, the hitodama flew off into the night air. Sakura put a hand over her eyes, relieved.

Sakura's green eyes opened suddenly. The pain building up in her head, her knees gave way. Potamos quickly reacted, catching and holding the girl steady. "Sacchan?"

Minoru quickly identified the problem: "Chakra shortage." Even though Sakura had taken a Hyourougan earlier in the day, she completely drained herself by doing the Kanashibari no Jutsu, and now reawakening her wide array of personal jutsu. "I will check on your human friends from a distance to confirm their health."

"Thank you, Minoru-san," Sakura whispered. She watched the elf's green form disappear into the trees.

* * *

Naruto growled. "Damn it." His head darted to and fro in search of a glowing sphere of light — more specifically, Sasuke's soul. The hyperactive ninja was pissed that the hitodama just decided to float away on a gust of wind. "I had thought you tougher than that, Sasuke."

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata called. Naruto turned around. His girlfriend kneeled at Sasuke's body, with something floated dimly from above. The hitodama.

'How in the world did I miss that?' Naruto wondered. He saw the glowing blue sphere descend into Sasuke's limp form. The two waited.

The Uchiha's eyes opened. The images of Naruto and the Hyuuga heiress appeared above him. He slowly got up. No head or neck injury, he decided, if Naruto's girlfriend was not stuttering something in protest. Sasuke stared in the distance.

"How d'ya feel?" Naruto asked.

Dead silence.

"Like a Chidori just ripped through me." Indeed, Sasuke felt an unexplainable need for sedatives.

The blond shinobi nodded. "Good. At least you feel something."

Sasuke rubbed his face. Indeed, he was exhausted. After that youkai's miasma grabbed a hold of him and — well, touched him on the mouth... Wait, what happened again? It was like waking up from a nightmare. He was sure that he had dreamt of something very frightening.

And then something very warm, beautiful, and comforting. That part was also horrific, now that he thought about it. From bits and pieces of his weak memory, it seemed like he had been embracing someone... and _liking_ it! How utterly absurd, Sasuke decided. The thought itself was terrible.

Whatever it was, thank God that it had only been a dream. Which taunted his low, drab existence. Part of Sasuke was relieved that harsh reality kicked him back in the face; he had to keep his mind straight. Yet viewing it also saddened him. A little bit.

Sasuke looked at his hands, caked with black ashes of the youkai. The tree now looked like it had been struck by lightning. Only a charred trunk remained, with a couple of remaining branches that poked out lengths meager to their former glory.

Hinata walked up to the dead tree, and looked in the hollow. When she saw nothing of a glint, she reached in and dug her fingers into the small heap of cinders, which were still sparkling with aura. Her hands raked through, and found nothing that resembled a jewel. 'If the thing that infected this tree was the Hardened Soul, it might have been destroyed.' Hinata squinted her white eyes. 'But somehow, I don't think the item was ever here in the first place.'

Naruto wiped the dripped sweat off his forehead. He lightly tugged on his shirt, making it peel off from his damp back. "Holy shit, that was a workout. Now we'd better get back to the village before—"

"YOU! What are you doing there?" a voice shouted from above.

Sasuke, Hinata and Naruto froze, and looked up. Several of the ANBU had their arms crossed as they surveyed the three from above.

Sasuke knew what was coming next.

Three ANBU guards savagely pinned Sasuke to the ground. They did the same to Naruto and Hinata, albeit more gently.

Sasuke's black eyes gazed over the katana pointed at his nose. Having a history with Orochimaru, he decided, occasionally had its downsides. One of the ANBU, probably the captain of the squad, motioned his men to get off of Sasuke, as the raven-haired chuunin was putting up no resistance. Jeez, some people could hold grudges. "What the hell happened here?" the captain asked.

"A youkai showed up," Hinata said quickly.

Naruto and Sasuke stared at the girl. Hinata had said it so honestly without hesitation, not even contemplating how ridiculous it sounded. Hinata gulped as the soldiers stared at her, remaining silent.

'Naruto is supposed to be the one who states the bluntly obvious or the absurd without thinking.' Sasuke kept his face cool as the ANBU looked at them in a very skeptical way. 'I guess his traits rubbed off on her...'

"I... I understand that it sounds very unusual!" Hinata stammered out. "But I need to talk to Tsunade-sama!"

"Do you realize," one of them said in a low tone, "That you are in forbidden territory? Especially when the Chuunin Exams are being held?" He turned towards Naruto and Sasuke. Ah, Kakashi's infamous Team Seven. One was the Kyuubi vessel and trained by the perverted Jiraiya; the other was the Uchiha heir and trained by Orochimaru, another pervert (but in a more atrocious sense).

The only goody-two-shoes from Kakashi's genin group had been... Wait a minute.

"Are you two in here for Haruno Sakura?"

Naruto gave a loud "HELL NO!" He took a few breaths. "Don't you dare think of Sakura-chan cheating. And listen to Hinata-chan, because she's telling the truth!" Naruto exclaimed. The fox-boy glared at the ANBU with confident, clear blue eyes, as if mentally telling them that he actually had authority on this one.

"Alpha. Sigma." Two of the ANBU turned their hooded heads to the squadron leader when he addressed them. "Escort these three out of this forest. Take them to Hokage-sama, as they've done a misdemeanor, at the very least."

Sasuke felt the two silently touch the ground behind him. "We can handle jumping through the trees alone," Sasuke said.

"But Hinata is drained of chakra," Naruto pointed out. Sasuke glared. One of the guards stepped forward to help the girl, but Naruto halted him. "Don't. I'm gonna carry her."

"You mean, you _want_ to carry her," the other corrected. Before he got a verbal answer, Naruto had already hoisted Hinata up in a piggy-back and jumped through the trees. The cute squeak of the girl's voice echoed faintly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes before taking off to the trees. "That idiot is _not_ going to be Hokage if he clings to her like that," the chuunin muttered.

The other masked ninja appeared next to Sasuke in the air. "I think he might, _because_ of clinging to her," the guard said. Sasuke turned his head slightly, an eyebrow raised at the comment. "Each and every Hokage believed that when you're protecting something precious to you, that is when you're the strongest. Even your mentor, Kakashi," — Sasuke swore that a low 'that time-consuming pervert' slipped in — "drilled into us the importance of remembering what you protect. That's what makes you strong."

Sasuke's dark eyes narrowed. He still wasn't sure which side was correct. Naruto, the ANBU member to the side of him, and all the Hokage had an ideal — which Sasuke _truly wanted_ to believe in. Yet the memory of Itachi, and the logic of any murderer seemed to say otherwise.

In any case, Sasuke was not going to speak up his personal opinion. Instead, he asked, "Does this mean I'm out of the ANBU-training?"

The ANBU member said nothing for a while. As he kicked off another tree, he again spoke up. "My captain likes having crazy people like you in his classes." He felt Sasuke twitch next to him. "Yep. That person who yelled at you is the head-trainer."

'My image can't sink any further,' Sasuke thought. 'Damn you, Naruto, for dragging me into this!'

* * *

Sakura shivered. She lay down on the ground to rest, a log as her pillow. A petite form with curled pigtails crouched above, keeping watch like a nighthawk.

"Thanks for taking guard-duty tonight," Sakura said up to Potamos.

"No problemo!" the water-demon answered. Potamos sat on a branch, dangling her legs. "I know you'll take over later another time. 'sides, I don't need sleep as frequently as your specie."

"I don't even know if I belong to a specie," Sakura murmured. She slowly drifted off to sleep. After tonight's long shift, she could fall asleep anywhere, even against a log in this cold night. "Be careful of leeches..."

"Don't worry! Because water expands when it freezes, whatever leech I see I'm gonna zap — and poom! It's exploded!"

"I know." Sakura's hands loosely wrapped around Tennyo, and held the sheathed katana close to her bodice. The pink-haired kunoichi slowly drifted off.

Potamos watched in contentment as her old friend fell into peaceful slumber: although Sakura had developed physically, she still could pull off a cherub-like face while at rest. Even her pink hair strew around her head like a halo. 'Again, why does she not have a boyfriend yet?' Potamos asked herself. 'Man, she is a PIECE, if I do say so myself... as a girl, of course.' She giggled as kinky thoughts danced through her brain.

Minoru walked upon the scene. He looked up at Potamos. "The ANBU suspect something. They will still be around for at least one more day, so keep a hold of your powers."

The water-demon gave a pout. "Pooey. I wanted to freeze a few more humans. And who do they think they are, wearing masks that look like animals? They can't even sculpt a cat-face right!"

"It's a minor inconvenience for us, yes. But also for those planting those seedlings." Minoru held up a scroll. "By the way, I found another team. That makes seven scrolls." He tucked the item within the folds of his clothing.

Minoru walked to Sakura's sleeping form, and knelt down to examine her. Her breath was quiet, slow and paced. He somehow willed himself to reach out, and touch the side of her cheek. 'She's grown so much. So beautiful...'

At the foreign touch, Sakura's green eyes shot open. Alarm went through Minoru's thoughts.

The young lady drew out Tennyo from her sheath, and pushed it forward against the other's throat.

"Sakura-san, it's me!" the blond elf exclaimed. He held back Sakura's hands, which were firmly wrapped around the sword's handle. The blade quivered a few centimeters away from his neck.

Her mouth partially opened with the sudden realization. Minoru's hands loosened from her own. The kunoichi slid Tennyo back into her sheath. "Oh God... I'm so sorry, Minoru-san!" Sakura's green eyes trailed onto the ground, ashamed. "It was so automatic for me, I didn't—"

"No harm done," Minoru's voice soothed. "That's actually a good skill, that you can detect other people's aura so quickly. Although, I'd wish you'd memorize mine." Sakura's cheeks burned. The blond elf was now wrapping his overcoat around the both of them. The cloak was too long by ninja standards, but it suited Minoru's needs just fine. "It also shows that your iaido — the sword-drawing art — is beginning to reawaken."

"Um... Minoru-san..." Sakura shifted within his embrace. "How long are you going to hug me like this?"

"It's so that you can sleep warmly." The blonde tugged on the material so that it covered Sakura more adequately. "I don't mind at all holding you. Good night."

Sakura's heart beat madly. His body and cloak felt like heaven. She realized that her head was against his torso — she remembered that incident a few years ago, when she treated a wound on his chest. He was beautiful. And he treated her so comfortably now. It felt a long time ago when one of her parents actually tucked her into bed.

The kunoichi suppressed a giggle as she leaned into Minoru, the perfect pillow.

His thumb touched Sakura's forehead. A stream of elfin words rolled off his tongue. _"I bless you with sweet dreams."_ At the melodious incantation, Sakura fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

"Fuckin' shit!" Hirosuke pounded his fist on the side of a log. It made a dent. A waft of strange aura hissed out from the site. The ninja from the Hidden Village of Waterfall again lashed out against the block of wood. It did not matter to him that he was wasting chakra, right on the second morning of the exams. He was going to pound the hell out of the log to let off steam. He could direct his anger to things other than people, thank you very much.

Callous turned to bruises. Bruises turned into open skin. Each added crater on the log had more moisture, more red.

"Hirosuke, please stop that." Chie walked on the scene, holding a cup of water. She presented it to the sweat-bathed Hirosuke, who took it gratefully. "Don't worry about that seedling. We still have more."

Hirosuke turned away. The sweat on his scalp began to run down, coating his bangs and making them stick to his hitai-ate. He wiped them away. "Who said I wanted your approval?" the Taki-nin scoffed.

A brief flash of indignation went through Chie. "I can't help it if those things are subsidized," she murmured, turning away. The black rosary beads on her wrist clicked with the swinging movement of her arm. "Just know that I won't give you any of my own."

"Of course." Hirosuke looked at his bloodied knuckles. The wounds, opening up, clotting, and opening up again — even the pain was getting too rampant. The Taki-nin dug into his chest, and pulled out an inrou, a wooden box held together by cords. Usually only samurai used these; ninja needed cases which were compact and closer to the body. But in his case, he possessed an item which needed more protection than a thin layer of leather. Hirosuke pulled the inrou apart, and shook out its contents.

A bluish-purple marble rolled on Hirosuke's hand. The spherical jewel touched the marred skin over his knuckles: the crushed flesh began to heal at an unnatural rate, until only impeccable skin remained. After testing the joints of his previous-self-battered hand, Hirosuke put the jewel back into the inrou. He tucked the case back into his fishnet undershirt.

"Koujirou saw a brief glimpse of a person, right before you left," Chie mentioned. "It might be the Priestess."

"Really? What makes him think that, that ninja wannabe?"

The girl with black hair resisted the urge to hit Hirosuke: Koujirou was her good friend. Chie breathed. "When Koujirou checked the scene after you left, he saw something of a free hitodama. He saw two hands catch it." Hirosuke looked up with sudden interest. Chie spoke further: "Koujirou had to leave quickly to not be found out, so he only had a glimpse."

"Go on," Hirosuke said. "Anything specific?"

"It was too far off, so Koujirou couldn't discern a face."

Hirosuke scoffed at the disappointing report, and proceeded to take the last gulp of water from his cup.

"Pink," Chie intoned.

The water in Hirosuke's mouth drabbled out. When he heard Chie laugh slightly, he glared at her.

"Pink hair," she said, her grin relaxing. "There's only one person with that color in these exams."

A shiver of excitement traveled through Hirosuke. "Well," he mumbled. "I certainly had a high opinion of her at the start. She puts up a match against you, both in personality and looks." His hand reached out for Chie's waist. "Even when we have such a deep relationship..."

She slapped his hand away. "Don't make such assumptions, you disgusting molester!" Chie snarled. "I was never your—"

She made a frightened gasp as Hirosuke laced a tight hold on her wrist. The gleam of insanity in his eyes immediately silenced the girl. One of his fingers traced over her rosary, which she had tied around her left hand. "These beads," Hirosuke mumbled. "They're the only things keeping your body beautiful and whole. Aren't they?"

Chie twisted her arm away. She gave a defiant glare in response to his threat. "Don't think I won't put up a fight."

Hirosuke laughed. "Of course. Although, I would enjoy the look on Koujirou's face if he ever finds you—"

"Let's just get to the tower!" Chie interrupted. "We'll try to pick up some on the way."

Hirosuke watched the scared and insulted Chie walk off. That had been fun. To be serious, he wouldn't take it that far on her. Chie was technically the squad's leader, even though Hirosuke never chose her to be. And a girl he already knew probably would not taste as good.

Haruno Sakura looked far more exotic.

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	16. Stepping Down and Stepping Up

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own Gundam Wing. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

I saw an interesting review for last chapter. This is what it said: "just so you know...when water freezes, it contracts."

My brain froze when I read this. It metaphorically swelled with disbelief.

Until the theory of chemistry changes, I am going to stand by this statement as true: WATER EXPANDS WHEN IT FREEZES INTO A SOLID. Yes, most substances have a higher density in its solid state than in the liquid state — but water is one of the few exceptions we have in this entire universe, that it actually expands when it freezes. This is why ice floats in water; ice is less dense than in its liquid form. This quality of good ol' H-two-O is what makes life possible on Earth, among other reasons.

Learn your chemistry, dear readers. It will greatly reduce my risk for stomach ulcers.

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 16: Stepping Down and Stepping Up

* * *

"URYAAAH!"

Sakura threw an opponent against a tree. Her hand wiped the sweat from her brow before it could drip into her eye.

"Hiromi is going!" Potamos shouted out, spraying another ninja with a jet of ice-cold water. "Don't let them go any closer to Mino-chan — yeay, yeay, yeay!"

Three ninja from the Leaf advanced on Sakura. "Give us the—"

"I know, I know, the scrolls!" The pink-haired kunoichi immediately deciphered the real one from the doppelgangers, and she slid to the ground beneath him. She kicked him upward in the jaw, much like the initial maneuver of Lee's Renge. The other ninja faded away, the amorphous Bunshin that they were.

Potamos fired icicles at random in all directions. "How can _so many ninja exist_ in one spot of the forest?" the water-demon shrieked. Many poofs of smoke were heard. "Oh come on, quit it with the clones; we'll destroy you in the end anyway!"

One hundred meters away, Minoru hummed a tune as the two girls went on flinging ninja behind him. A nest of twigs, laden with seven heaven scrolls and six earth scrolls, lay at his feet. He struck a match. 'My apologies to you, humans.' He watched the burning stick fall. 'The only things which endanger you now are yourselves.' As the flames licked and consumed the paper, the blond elf mentally reviewed the past events.

Day One of the exams: one youkai planted, and destroyed. Days Two and Three: ANBU guards watch over the exams; nothing happens in terms of the supernatural...with the mere exception of Minoru whisking Tennyo away from Sakura. Wearing the sheathed katana at her waist did nothing to help to conceal their already unusual appearance.

(( "But Sacchan had one of the greatest sword-masters!" Potamos complained. "Why can't Sacchan wear Tennyo? She kicks ass! Well, she kicks ass without it, too; but I want to see more slicing!"

Sakura twitched. Did Potamos think of nothing but blood? "Scarlett-sensei only taught me kendo and iaido." Sakura held out the sheathed weapon to her elfin friend. "Kendo is an attacking style, but it's limited to a few blows and thrusts. Iaido is for quick reflexes in case of a sudden attack. Both styles require the sheath to be at the waist, or at least held nearby." The medic-nin gave a small laugh. "I can't draw Tennyo out of my back like the ANBU can."

"Those ninja who take up the sword always have them strapped to their backs," Minoru explained to Potamos. "It is vital to the fighting skills of ninja to keep their weapons close to their bodies, for movement and speed. If Sakura-san clunks a katana to her waist like a samurai, people will wonder." Minoru's index finger let off a brief tan energy, before sliding over the scabbard of Tennyo. The weapon immediately rolled into his palms. A few words, and it disappeared into thin air. ))

Day Four: Minoru spotted, far away, several ninja enter the Tower. They were from the Hidden Waterfall. One of their members had flawless skin, no burns or abrasions. Neither had there been shouts or screams of fighting right before the group had entered the tower, which was strange because that was where most ninja were ambushed. By nightfall, Minoru estimated that the 'innocent' ones were left over in the Forest of Death — but just to make sure his team did not overlook anything, Minoru insisted they stay until the end.

It was now the fifth day in the evening. Sakura's breath heaved as she kneeled on the ground. Even Potamos looked beaten. Only Minoru looked healthy because the forest constantly rejuvenated him with chakra. As such, he took over Sakura's usual healing duties (and in return assigned her to beat the crap out of anyone going after them). It was good training for her and Potamos: all the remaining genin turned hostile to murderous.

Minoru walked in upon the scene. At least fifteen genin lay unconscious around 'his two girls', knocked out cold from either exhaustion or hypothermia. Minoru struck his hands together in a clap. "Excellent. All done within five minutes."

Sakura hacked out a dab of pink phlegm. "We're finishing, NOW. I want a bath!"

Potamos raised a shimmering globe of water. "Bath, coming right up!"

The medic-nin put up a halting arm. "I mean a HOT bath."

Potamos gave a mischievous grin. "Sacchan, with you in the water, _any_ bath can turn into a hot bath!"

Sakura gave a weak smile. Despite her exhaustion, she played along with it. "Of course, Hiromi. But to do that, you'd have to come in with me." The two females giggled.

Minoru sighed at the behavior of the girls. He indicated the way towards the door of the tower. "Shall we?" he asked. Potamos skipped after him, happy with a job well done.

Sakura weakly followed. As her feet dragged, the medic-nin felt an overwhelming sense of belonging. It saddened her that this team was only together for a brief moment of reunion, only to dissolve again... Unless the worst happened. The very worst thing — which might force her to leave Konoha.

* * *

Two years ago. It seemed so distant to Sakura, even now. Team 7 had been reunited, at least in theory. Sakura gave up her spot for entering the Chuunin Exams. Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata went in as a three-man cell instead. All of them passed. Sakura was happy, and excited to have her chance. Yet one night...

(( _Creak._

A fourteen-year-old Sakura started awake from her sleep. That old window rattled like a skeleton; it always managed to bang from any sort of wind.

The girl moaned as she buried her face in the pillow. She did not even try to read the clock. It was probably some unholy hour to wake up, like four. Her hospital shift today started at six. 'Great, I probably won't be able to fall back asleep again...' The pink-haired girl snuggled back within the covers, seeking the warm bed.

'Sakura,' a feminine voice murmured.

Sakura jolted up from her bed. She looked at the wall, and noticed it bathed in a red glow. She turned around to see its source. A fluorescent, red-haired woman stood upon the carpet, her image see-through yet bright. A long, white veil covered most of her hair, and went all the way around her shoulders and arms in the manner of a cloak. Two flower bunches pinned the veil back to reveal her face — but most distinctly, her deep purple eyes.

'Sakura, you must attend any international gatherings which your people hold.'

Sakura did not seem surprised at all that a speaking hologram appeared in her room. "International?" the girl asked. "What do you mean? I got back here a few months ago; are you saying that—"

'Look into the books on what your people call 'youkai'. Then attend the next Chuunin Exams. You will see what I mean.' The redhead narrowed her amethyst-like eyes towards Sakura. 'Revive your skills, if necessary.' ))

When the kunoichi traveled off to the exams, the message had been clear as ever. Sakura's first-ever youkai reared its ugly head in front of her and her Konoha teammates. A red-skinned oni, at least eight feet tall, had been chewing on several other genin, like some wolf on helpless lambs. When it discovered the interruption, it pounced on Sakura's first teammate. The genin's death was instant; the gash at the neck emptied him of blood within the minute. Sakura's other teammate was too slow, and had a chunk of flesh taken from his calf while he tried to run.

(( The Konoha-nin screamed in pain as he tried to get up. Sakura ran to him. "Stay calm, Naga—"

Sakura shrieked. The horned monster had yanked her up by the ankle; the blood rushed into her head.

The intensity of it all gave Sakura her first real strike. She planted a chakra-infused punch in the oni's gut, a blow Tsunade would have been proud of. Using the momentary howl of pain, Sakura's hands flicked into a mysterious sequence. Pink petals of chakra appear around her hands. She slammed both onto the demon's red skin. The blow crushed a deep hole into the monster's stomach; black blood gushed over her hands.

Sakura tumbled onto the ground, and ran towards her disabled teammate. He was in so much pain and fright; shock was imminent. Sakura powered up the Chiyute no Jutsu. The green, healing energy removed the uncleanliness from her hands.

"Don't worry. I'll help you. Everything will be okay..." Sakura gently murmured those words into her teammate's ears, over and over, as her green-glowing palms touched his wounded areas.

"Sakura-san—" The genin's voice had a note of imminent doom. He was hyperventilating. "Please — tell Hanako-chan —"

"You'll survive this; the wound is just in your leg," Sakura said firmly. "I can stop the bleeding, everything will be okay!"

"I love her—"

He grew rigid.

The medic-nin was stunned. The youkai had not given that large of a bite! Sakura checked his pulse, which was nonexistent. She quickly went to the chest to begin CPR — and then felt something moist at her knee. Sakura looked down, and noticed blood was soaking in the ground around her teammate. She rolled his body a little to the side, revealing a large gash deep in his back. He was already dead.

'If I had noticed this sooner...'

Her mind went blank.

It felt so empty when Sakura finally came to. She was still sitting on the ground, amidst several dead genin in a barren wasteland. The blood on her hands was nearly dry. There was still an imprint of where the demon had fallen, although the dry bones had disappeared as well.

Sakura noticed three other test-takers, staring at her from a distance. They did not even attack when her green eyes caught them, much to her surprise.

They only turned their heels and ran. "Just run, you idiots! Can't you see she's dangerous?"

'Dangerous?' Sakura looked down at herself. Her hands were stained with red blood. Those genin had thought that _she_ killed the people around her.

The girl suddenly felt an urge to vomit. Her stomach was empty, unfortunately; there was nothing to purge. She forcefully coughed, hoping that even the thinnest bile would trickle out, that her mind could have some catharsis through a physical gesture. Normal people threw up after something like this, right? ))

When Sakura arrived home from that exam with 'Failure' marked on her paper, she wanted to cry to someone. Anyone. It did not matter anymore what ninja rank she was in. She somehow was assigned to slay demons — and she did not even know what she was doing! Tsunade was busy with paperwork and patients, as always. Sakura's parents were away on a mission that night. Naruto was having a date with Hinata, and the last thing Sakura wanted to do was interrupt their happiness. A blubbering third wheel, oh joy.

And Sasuke... He wouldn't want to hear that stuff. Sakura knew what he had gone through already. He would not tolerate the silly complaints of an annoying, useless kunoichi. Much as a jerk Sasuke was, he did not need any more stress. If Sakura got a load of pressure as well, then it was heaven's retribution for her being so naïve and stupid in her past.

So Sakura kept quiet.

Months turned into years, as Sakura learned everything she could about the demons of nature. Youkai, as they were called. She had no idea, really, why they were acting up all of a sudden. They were supposed to be natural guardians, even gods (if they were beneficial enough to humans to earn such a title). But finding such information proved difficult. Even the Konoha library seemed unusually empty on topics of the supernatural. It was pathetic that most of what she read about youkai came from a children's storybook, bought in a neighboring country. ('At least the foxes and raccoon-dogs were cute,' she once thought to herself.) This wasn't to say that Sakura gained no experience. When she was lucky enough to find a spirit near huge gatherings of people, Sakura cornered them in dark alleys or forests. There had been a few, just weak and confused. But most of the time she had to resort to physical violence.

Somewhere along the way, Sakura grew to consider kunai and shuriken as tools of distraction rather than killing weapons. It felt better to use bare fists for strikes. She could channel her stress through physical exercise; why hadn't she seen this before? Even injuries had their use: it motivated her to learn more anatomy.

* * *

Tsunade's heels clicked on the granite floor. All the genin who stood before her had proven themselves worthy to enter the final round of the Chuunin Exams. The blonde woman suppressed the urge to give her apprentice a smile of congratulations. Thankfully, Sakura avoided eye contact with the Hokage altogether. The girl looked absolutely exhausted.

There was one full team from the Leaf, one from Sand, one from Waterfall, and two mixed teams: five teams total.

"Is this _all_?" a jounin from the Leaf muttered.

"That's exactly how it should be," his peer from the Waterfall said calmly. He looked at his team of Chie, Hirosuke, and Koujirou, all dressed in navy blue like he was. "In fact, that number might be just over the edge. Fifteen genin was considered too many yesteryear — but I suppose your larger town has grown more _tolerant_."

The Konoha-nin turned away. Although the Hidden Village of Waterfall was considered a smaller village, Taki-nin were still famous for being a little too aloof.

Down below, Minoru brushed the dirt from his clothing. Even though all his cuts had healed, the elf had had his share getting himself dirty with combat. His clothing already stank of blood. He pushed his wavy hair back around his ears: it was a great fear of his that his ears would unexpectedly pop back into their original shape.

"Congratulations to all of you," Tsunade announced in a loud voice, "of passing the second part of the Chuunin Exams. All of your SHOULD already know about the symbolic act of such an event — substitute for war, friendship agreements, blah blah blah. I'm not going to go over that."

Sakura sighed at Tsunade's speech. 'Shishou, at least show yourself more professional as a Hokage. You're making Konoha look bad.'

"Holy crap, her tits are HUGE!" Potamos said in a rather loud whisper, her voice full of awe.

Sakura's face turned pale. Then a line of red brushed her cheeks. Chuckles of laughter spread through the genin.

"I wanna know how she got 'em fixed!" the purple-haired demon continued. "How old is she again?"

'The forbidden question!' Minoru thought in panic. The blond elf smacked Potamos on the back of her head before she spouted off more words that hinted of... indecent curiosity. When the water-demon saw the looks of warning from Minoru and Sakura, she shut her mouth.

The awkward aura of the Godaime settled down. 'What's wrong with being a little stacked?' Tsunade asked herself. 'Jiraiya still thinks I'm hot, even though he hardly ever admits it out loud...' She coughed.

"The final round of these exams," Tsunade continued, "is in a tournament setting, one-on-one fighting. That means this is no longer a team event. Clientele, daimyo, and commoners will come to watch. Now in the past, we limited the number of final entrants under ten people. But you are lucky this time around: all fifteen of you can enter, because of various requests to make way for a broader set of stakes — er, combatants."

Now, Sakura was muttering to herself quietly. "Bets... losing money..."

Minoru's blue eyes narrowed. 'Does that mean the Hokage actually has a gambling problem?' he thought. 'I suppose lesser scandals retain some truth after the rumor mill runs them through...'

Mitarashi Anko held up a clipboard. "Before you draw names, is there anybody who would like to step down from the exams?" she asked. "This is no longer a team event, as you know. And plenty of you are injured."

A pause ensued. Then, someone slowly raised his hand. Minoru stepped out of the group. "I'd like to excuse myself," he said politely.

"Otoya... Minoru. Disqualified." Anko marked her clipboard, and looked up. "Anybody else?"

Potamos held back a sorrowful moan before raising her hand as well. Anko scratched her 'name' off.

"Who are those two?" Tsunade silently asked Anko.

"Both of them are first-timers for the Chuunin Exams," the specialist-jounin whispered. "Because Haruno Sakura has had the longest record of failings in these exams among all entering genin, the selection committee labeled her as too... experienced." She refrained from adding: 'Plus, you're her personal tutor.'

"But I was asking about her _teammates_," Tsunade said.

"Otoya Minoru from Hidden Grass: 34 D-rank, 10 C-rank. Kawnami Hiromi from Hidden Rain: 20 D-rank, 3 C-rank."

Tsunade's hazel eyes narrowed. 'Otoya and Kawanami are not prominent names. Are the Grass and Rain beginning to recruit people from non-shinobi families?'

* * *

Sakura sighed as her two teammates walked off. It was now or never. 'I have to raise my hand, now,' Sakura chanted. 'It'll break Tsunade-sama's heart, but it's cleaner this way. Minoru-san promised to investigate for himself who the bad eggs are in the final round...' She lifted her palm.

"Giving up?" a voice taunted.

Sakura's arm froze. Sakura turned her head slightly around to see who had spoken up. To her great annoyance, it was her former classmate in Ninja Academy, Ami.

Sakura turned back around with her head high, deciding to ignore the girl. Ami had teased Sakura incessantly in their younger years. Sakura was pretty sure she'd still be an ugly crybaby now, had it not been for Ino's friendship. Most kid bullies grew out of their antics. But Ami proved that a few people never grew up.

Sakura's weak self was something of the past. She was a strong kunoichi now, genin or not. She did not need approval from the likes of Ami. Sakura lifted her hand again. "I would like to—"

"I bet you graduating from Ninja Academy was just a fluke," Ami continued loudly, interrupting her old classmate. "I was so surprised that you landed in Uchiha Sasuke's team. And even that dope Naruto made it ahead of you!"

Sakura closed her eyes, urging her hand up higher. She had to resist temptation. "I, Haruno Sakura, would like to—"

"Of course Sakura would give up," Ami continued, as if possessed. For some odd reason, she did not care that her teammates were giving her warning looks, or that the Hokage herself was frowning. "She's just too _scared_; she always needs stronger teammates to protect her—"

Ami suddenly felt her skull blown backwards, and a searing pain over her eye. She sprawled flat on her back.

"Ami!" one of her teammates cried out.

The other one shook his head. "She had it coming, the bitch," he muttered, not loud enough for Ami to hear.

The genin and jounin could not help but stare. Sakura had pounded a black eye on a fellow kunoichi — and was absolutely furious.

"RUNNING AWAY? DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!" Sakura shouted at Ami, her fist shaking. "You want me to come in, then FINE! I'll enter the tournament! You'd just better not get scared and run away yourself, BITCH!"

Sakura's breath heaved.

Ami looked up at Sakura. "So you're entering? Good. I wish you luck, Forehead-girl."

None of the genin saw a mysterious, black-colored thread draw itself out of Ami's head. The floating line weaved its way through the genin. It stopped near the arm of Chie, the kunoichi from the Hidden Waterfall. The wispy string melted itself into her rosary. Chie smirked. 'That was too easy.'

"Well, that concludes the resignations!" Anko enthusiastically flipped over the pages on her clipboard. "Everyone, take your number!"

The Hokage swelled with pride. So her student finally revealed a bit of spunk! 'Why did that Ami call her 'Forehead-girl' anyway?' she wondered. 'Did Sakura have a mark on her head as a child or something?'

Sakura was horrified. The realization of what she had done... It was like doomsday. 'I... I am so STUPID!' All these years, she had resisted the temptation to show herself off... And then in Konoha, of all places, her resolve snapped like a twig. 'I'm not supposed to fight in public! Something could go wrong if the winds try to—'

'Sakura-san.' Minoru's voice was somewhat grave as it interrupted Sakura's thoughts.

The kunoichi silently covered her face in her hands. 'Oh, God... I'm so sorry, Minoru-san; I don't know what came over me... I'll back down on the tournament—'

'No,' the elf mentally shot back. 'What's done is done. Backing down now will only bring shame onto your teacher. We'll just have to take extra precautions on the day.' The tone of the voice softened considerably. 'Besides, you've fought in front of a large crowd before.'

A headache descended on Sakura. Well, the worst had not happened. Yet. She just had to make sure not to use any jutsu outside of Konoha knowledge, and not to display herself as overtly powerful.

Sakura had enough skills up her sleeve. She admitted to have pretty good chakra control. This could actually turn out to be a piece of cake.

...Right?

* * *

Murphy's Law: if anything can go wrong, it will.

* * *

After the genin had filed out of the Tower, Tsunade's head looked up at the ceiling. She coughed. "You can come out now. I know you're there."

The form of an armored man slid out of the ceiling. He hung like a monkey on the supports, and looked down. A mask covered his face. He gave a signal with his arms.

Sheets of camouflage cloth wafted down, revealing several ninja. They all sighed in relief as the ANBU captain ordered them to go back onto the ground. He called it 'Civilized Rush'. In truth, it had nothing to do with psychologically breaking them; this was just a physical endurance test. The real tests were ones of real life: A-rank missions. And those were given only when the captain had absolute faith in the ninja. In his personal experience, A- and S-rank missions made people neurotic enough.

"Woohoo!" Naruto shouted, speeding down the wall. "I made it, Tsunade-no-Baachan!"

"Don't call me Baachan!" the Hokage shouted.

Sasuke, in contrast to Naruto, took his time to slide to the ground. He used to race the others in these sorts of things, almost like a competitive athlete. Now he focused on chakra control. It was mainly because what was left of his energy was at a piddle. He had hung on the ceiling for a whole an hour, waiting and monitoring lowly genin. Who knew that a simple gesture like wiping sweat had to be so meticulously choreographed? But it was so if one wanted to be ANBU. If even one genin noticed them, the drill sergeant would kick _all _of them out. Sasuke even had had to tuck in the hiding cloth of another person in the class, thinking that a certain angle of the fabric lines did not look so convincing.

Oh, yes. There was also that little cat-fight. Sasuke vaguely remembered Ami to be one of those annoying fangirls in the days of Academy. Ami's comments towards Sakura had dripped with venom and distain. 'Feminine kindness, my ass!' When Sasuke hung there — listening to those _words_ — he felt very much tempted to go down there, yell at that Ami, and then pull Sakura far from the madding crowd.

The only problem was, it was not his fight. He had no right to intervene. He wondered why Sakura just stood there, taking it. Good God, did all girls experience something like that?

It had pleased Sasuke greatly when Sakura physically retaliated with a nice punch. Some part of him even felt aroused at the memory of her furious speech. Dare he ever say that she looked cute when she was slightly assertive and grumpy? ...Hell no. 'Cute' wasn't in his vocabulary. But his inner hormones at least entertained the thought.

Although, it smelled fishy: that Ami girl seemed to have an unusual shadow around her as she dissed Sakura. Her eyes looked dilated, as if they were not adjusting properly to the light. Yet her voice had been loud and articulate enough. After Sakura punched the other girl and gave her speech, a fluttering black line escaped Ami's head. It had been too thick to be a strand of hair. Sasuke had craned his neck to see what it was, but it immediately disappeared.

When Sakura left the building, she looked as though she were about to cry. She hid it well from the other genin, but Sasuke knew watering eyes when he saw them.

The Uchiha wondered if he should visit her. He kept reminding himself that he shouldn't meddle in her personal business. Neither was he concerned with the unpredictable mood of females. But she told him that he was a good friend. And if _one_ person in this world had faith in him to be good in something like that... it seemed important.

Then the young man realized that he had never actually been to Sakura's house before. Hell, he didn't even know which district she lived in.

Konoha had hundreds of houses (not including apartments). There was no way Sasuke could find it, unless he _asked_ somebody. Either that, or stalking Sakura — er, following her. And she had already left the building.

Naruto readjusted his hitai-ate. He looked up to see Sasuke waiting for him.

"Naruto. I need you to tell me something."

"You want to know where Sakura-chan lives," Naruto finished for him. It had only been a good guess, but the saucer-like eyes of the otherwise stoic ninja told Naruto that he had been right. Naruto refrained from laughing out in triumph. "Say no more, my friend. I once had the same problem. Neji almost killed me when I asked where he lived; he thought I was planning to blackmail him or prank up the place. And then when I said that I wanted to see Hinata, he kind of turned into an overprotective brother. Which was even worse."

Sasuke brushed a strand of raven hair away from his face. As Naruto led the way towards Konoha, Sasuke almost felt — nervous. Why did the thought of seeing a girl at her house feel so revolutionary to him? Sasuke did plenty of errands and house visits, back when he had been stuck with D-rank missions.

After the initial step into the Konoha gates, and Naruto jumped up on the roof of a house.

Sasuke looked up. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"

"It's a short-cut," said Naruto.

...Fifteen minutes later, the two were still wandering around.

"You don't know, do you?"

"I had known it before!" Naruto exclaimed. "My memory's just a bit shaken!"

"Naruto-kun?"

Naruto turned around to see Hinata at the corner, holding a few bags of groceries. He latched onto her back. "Hinata-chan! You're free from house imprisonment!" Naruto looked over her shoulder at what she had bought. "Why are there ten cans of sweetened red beans hidden at the bottom?"

Hinata's blushing face took a guilty look. Naruto recognized it: sweet-tooth urge. "Oh, well. You know what's best." Naruto slipped his hand into Hinata's, and pulled off one bag. "I'll take you home, okay?" he told her with a foxy grin.

Sasuke coughed loudly.

"Oh, crap..." Naruto mumbled. "...Hinata-chan, would you know where Sakura-chan's house is? Sasuke's trying to find it."

Comprehension sunk in Hinata when she saw Sasuke's annoyed (yet slightly embarrassed) expression. She smiled. "Of course. It's along the way to the Hyuuga residence, so I can act as a guide."

When Sakura's house came into view, Sasuke noticed that three people were already there. A tall blonde, and a lithe girl with curly purple pigtails. An uneasy feeling stirred in the Uchiha as he watched Minoru touch Sakura's cheek.

* * *

"Stay safe, Minoru-san." Sakura smiled up at the blond elf.

"I will," he answered. His ice-blue eyes caught the three chuunin watching from a distance.

A ghastly idea suddenly came upon Minoru. It was horrible. It would spark much debate.

It was perfect.

Minoru leaned down, and planted a light kiss on Sakura — directly on the lips. "Good night." With a quick reflex, Minoru jumped on the rooftops and ran off, leaving Potamos and a very stunned Sakura on the ground.

As for the three chuunin standing on the corner: they were thunderstruck.

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	17. Misunderstandings

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 17: Misunderstandings

* * *

Sakura's face turned horrified. "Oh... Oh..."

Potamos clapped her hands in glee. "Sooooo? How did that feel?"

"That was my first kiss!" Sakura cried in dismay. "ON THE LIPS!"

"Mino-chan is quite upfront about this stuff," Potamos commented, a naughty grin on her face.

Sakura looked like she wanted to hit something. 'How COULD he?' she wailed inside. 'The next time I see him, I'll — I'll kill him!'

"Oh, come on." Potamos stroked Sakura's arm. She let the medic-nin calm down a bit. "Tell me the truth. Did'ya like it?" the water-demon asked slyly.

Sakura touched her bottom lip. The kunoichi's cheeks turned a considerable pink. "Well... maybe... a little."

Potamos wiggled her nose. "That's what I wanted to hear. An answer." She gave Sakura a tight hug. "Be careful of stalkers, and all that. Bye!" Thus did the purple-haired demon skip off and go on her merry way.

Sakura gulped. Her tongue traced her lips. Completely dry — yet a lingering scent of earth and flowers remained. True, the attention Minoru gave her had been... totally uncalled for.

Sakura then realized that a handsome, dashing young man walked towards her: Uchiha Sasuke. Was it just her, or did the red glow from the sunset add a fiery, demonic touch to his already dark appearance?

Sakura's heart thumped at each step. She knew by the look in his black eyes that he had a bone to pick with her, and her only.

The Uchiha stopped two meters in front of her, a safe distance away. He shut his eyes to give a breath. He then looked deep into her emerald eyes. "Sakura..."

Sakura looked at him. "Yes?"

"YOU COULD HAVE TOLD ME!" Sasuke shouted in anger.

Sakura's mouth was ajar. She was shocked that Sasuke could raise his voice like that. "What... are you talking about?" Sakura finally asked, confused.

The Uchiha steamed. "You could have told us that you were a LESBIAN!"

This statement hit the medic-nin like a ton of bricks. When she saw Naruto and Hinata blushing in the background, she realized that Sasuke was not kidding.

After a long silence, Sakura sighed. She looked up at Sasuke. "So what if I am?" she asked. It was silly dodging the accusation, but she needed to protect Minoru's disguise.

"I just wish you had been open about this!" he exclaimed. "At least to _me_!"

Irritation suddenly crossed Sakura's face. "So what if my first kiss was from the same gender?" she challenged. "The same happened to YOU!"

"THAT didn't count," Sasuke said defensively.

"Then at least show it, by not making such a big deal about MY first kiss!" Sakura shouted. "Honestly, Sasuke: if you don't loosen up a little, you'll never find a woman to help you with your damn clan restoration — and the gossiping housewives in Konohagakure will keep on believing that you and Naruto are an ITEM!"

"WHAT?" Naruto and Sasuke exclaimed in unison at this sudden news. All the hot blood which had until now accumulated in Sasuke's face immediately drained out. Hinata ran off in tears.

"Oh my God — Hinata-chan!" Naruto cried out, running after his girlfriend. He flashed Sakura an outraged look before he turned the corner.

Sakura groaned, and massaged her temple in frustration. Great, now she had managed to make Naruto angry with her. She shouldn't have said such a thing in Hinata's presence, just because she was frustrated with Sasuke. And Sasuke... was frozen as a statue.

"Good night," Sakura said stiffly. Before Sasuke could figure out something appropriate to say, the kunoichi slammed the door in his face.

* * *

Paper lanterns clunked around in the wind. Late-night bars and dim apartment windows threw a glow towards the heavens. The winds picked up, adding a chill to the already cold night.

The night seemed to last forever for Sasuke. He felt numb, and had a good reason to feel that way, too: the young man was lying on his back on a roof, staring at the night sky. The frosty air tore at his skin. As he felt less of the physical world, his mental activity grew in strength. It was the perfect time for calculating out what he did wrong at Sakura's place.

Okay, so Sasuke had been a little disturbed that the blonde woman had kissed Sakura on the lips — and she in turn admitted to enjoying it.

Sasuke closed his eyes. The down-to-earth truth, just like the ridiculous paper lanterns erasing the stars, took away any tiny hope he had. A wish that Sakura might even be willing to stay by his side for life. Only today had he found out that it was something different from his ambition to revive the clan.

Sure, there were many heterosexual women around who could fulfill the role as the bearer of his children. But the fine print was only slowly dawning on him: if he ever took up the duties of a legitimate husband, he wanted a wife who could understand him. A woman who could be trusting and compassionate, just as Sakura had been for years...

Trusting? HA! She didn't even tell him that she was gay! Maybe that 'crush' Sakura had on him before was just a confused obsession. For all Sasuke knew, one could even hypothesize that her idolatry for him had been a cover-up for her true sexual orientation! It all made sense now. Besides Sasuke, Sakura had never shown attraction for any other man. (Maybe she imagined Sasuke as a girl; Naruto always said that he was too pretty.) How had he not noticed it? An actress who was so damn good that even her fellow actors could not tell that she _loathed_ the script!

'Sakura likes someone else. And I can't even compete against — HER!'

A dull pain throbbed in Sasuke's head. The cold breeze around cooled his face. Those tiny little dreams involving Sakura these past few years, which he had not taken seriously —they were only weeds choking around his well-cultivated ambitions. Even the dandelion with its bright, yellow top sucked away nutrients from other plants, such as herbs. Herbs were bitter, but at least they were useful.

(( "Did'ya like it?"

"Well... maybe... a little." ))

Amazing, how a simple answer, partnered with a girlish blush, could speak volumes.

(( "I don't have any dreams; that's just a word..." ))

A bitter chuckle escaped Sasuke as he lay on the roof. His twelve-year-old self had been much wiser.

"What are you laughing at?" a lazy voice asked.

The seventeen-year-old glared up at his mentor, Kakashi. "What do you want?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi blinked. "Naruto told me you were upset about something with Sakura, so..."

"I'M NOT UPSET!" Sasuke shouted. Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Sasuke looked away. "So what if Sakura..."

"So she really is a lesbian?"

Sasuke's dark bangs covered his face, adding to the thick cloud of depression hanging around him. A stray leaf flew through the cold night breeze.

The silver-haired jounin coughed. "I'm assigning you a mission, Sasuke," Kakashi said. "It'll just take one night."

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, rubbing his eyes. This was exactly what he needed: a task. He sure wouldn't be able to sleep tonight unless he had some sort of physical catharsis.

A grin spread on Kakashi's face as he held up a camera. "I have pictures of Sakura's first kiss. Go get them developed for me, would you?"

Sasuke froze at this statement. His dark eyes locked onto the hideous mechanism in Kakashi's hand. 'A straight-line jutsu,' he judged. 'Accurate to not kill Kakashi in the process... I'll pound him later for it... yet powerful enough to destroy that THING.'

Kakashi caught several kunai out of the air before they could flick the camera out of his hand.

"You perverted freak," Sasuke hissed. His hands prepared for a Ryuuka no Jutsu.

"Temper, temper," Kakashi grumbled as he leaned back, making Sasuke's fire dragon miss the camera. "Well, I guess if you want to have things done, you've got to do it yourself." Kakashi willed a bit of chakra in his feet, and took off over the rooftops.

Sasuke boiled. There was no way he would let those photos get developed. The gossip would spread like wildfire, and Sakura's reputation would be in question. Sasuke was going to get that camera, even if it cost him his last drop of energy!

Sasuke crossed his fingers, just like how Naruto had done it countless of times. 'Kage-bunshin no Jutsu!'

Kakashi smirked under his mask as he saw five shadow-clones form. Honestly, the jounin would never spread this story to the mainstream — but he needed to aggravate Sasuke to the breaking point. All that tension within the avenger would explode if he didn't have an activity like this. The confusion and despair within Sasuke actually made him believe Kakashi's little bluffs.

'Not that the picture isn't cute...' Kakashi thought, looking at the glowing screen of his camera. 'If Jiraiya ever tried his hand at writing yuri, this image would be the perfect model.'

Yes: Kakashi indeed had taken pictures of Sakura and her teammates. But it had only been because Morino Ibiki ordered several jounin to look out for 'suspicious activity' among the genin finalists. It had been evident from the start that some genin entered the exams illegally. The question was what to do with the few deviants.

Kakashi was especially worried about Sakura, so he volunteered to spy on her team for a bit. The kiss snapshot had only been an accident. When the Otoya woman suddenly landed her lips upon Sakura's, the shock made Kakashi's finger press down on a button — thank God that Hinata and former Team 7 had not spotted him. It had taken all of Kakashi's self-control not to laugh his head off at Sasuke's reaction to the whole deal.

The silver-haired jounin kicked away one of Sasuke's Kage-Bunshin. "You need better timing and coordination skills if you want to use that jutsu." Kakashi threw a kunai upward, destroying another. "You're not suited to it. Even Naruto's first shot was better than what you're trying now."

"Hand over the camera!" Sasuke snarled.

Kakashi blinked as he felt the real Sasuke appear behind him. After shoving down the momentary panic, the silver-haired jounin threw the camera into his other hand, out of Sasuke's reach. 'Damn! I didn't realize that he would be so protective of Sakura's image, even after finding out her... sexual preferences!'

'I don't think he's taking me seriously,' Sasuke thought, pulling out a scroll. 'Hell, he's going down.'

"You know, Sasuke..." Kakashi said, skipping up a particularly tall apartment complex. "All hope isn't lost for you." A grin was visible through his dark mask. "She could be a bi."

"Stop trying to change the subject!" The Uchiha's sandals scraped against the rooftops as he sprinted after the fleeing jounin. 'What's a bi, anyway?' Sasuke wondered in the back of his mind.

Kakashi studied his watch. "It's 9:25 P.M. now," he called out in a loud voice. "If you can obtain the camera within twelve hours, you can keep it." Sasuke tackled the jounin, crashing Kakashi into the hard rooftop. "Make sure you don't wake up the neighbors," Kakashi instructed, before poofing away into a burst of smoke. Kage-bunshin.

'This is just like the bell-test, only a one-on-one battle!' Sasuke panted as he kneeled on the slanted rooftop. 'And at night, of all times!'

Kakashi balanced on a lightning rod. "9:25 tomorrow morning. If you don't get the camera by then," — Kakashi disappeared from the point, and blurred back into vision on an iron railing — "I get to keep this camera and do as I want."

"I'll finish you within thirty minutes," Sasuke spat.

Kakashi ignored the threat. "Oh, and if I happen to mosey around the Hokage's office... I might be forced to hand in the camera, since they wanted to double-check the backgrounds of each genin entering the final tournament of the Chuunin Exam. That's how I got the picture in the first place, after all. So the 12-hour thing might get cut short if the camera is... _taken_ before then."

Sasuke growled.

Kakashi's form disappeared. It was the start of the chase.

* * *

Koujirou pulled out his hitai-ate. His damp, brown hair could finally un-stick from his forehead.

The ninja from the Hidden Waterfall absentmindedly studied the glint off of the metal. A few tiny scratches showed up when he moved it slightly. The mirror image of a girl reflected off. 'Chie,' he thought.

The dark-haired Chie positioned herself on the ground. Her shoulder-length hair was tied back in a white strip of cloth, much like a shrine priestess. A campfire crackled in front of her.

She carefully unwound the rosary from her left hand, and dropped it into the fire. Her eyes opened, revealing a set of blue, glowing irises. Koujirou shivered.

Red-hot boils slowly began to erupt from Chie's left arm. A look of intense pain streaked across her expression, although her eyes remained as ever determined. She quickly performed a set of hand seals over the rosary lying in the fire before her. With a push of aura into the last hand position, and closing her eyes, Chie began to recite.

"Arise, weary souls," she murmured, her voice mellow as a lullaby. The flames before her seemed to turn blue for only a moment — several spheres of light jumped out of the glowing rosary. "Release your feelings of vengeance and hate, and place them upon my being. No longer let the suffering of life burden you..."

The hitodama danced around Chie's glowing form. Drops of spiritual energy flecked off into the air — and then absorbed into Chie's reddening left arm.

Koujirou gulped. He wasn't observing Chie's infected limb anymore. He had never seen her hold this long in one of her rituals; usually five or six souls was her maximum intake... "Chie, stop!" he shouted.

Her eyes shot open at Koujirou's voice. Instead of becoming angry, Chie willed her glowing blue irises to fade. The hitodama in the air halted in their dance. They slowly floated upwards into the night sky, and disappeared into the stars.

Chie quickly grabbed the rosary from the fresh cinders. The beads were already cold to the touch. "Koujirou, you don't have to babysit me," the Taki-nin mumbled. "I know my limits."

"I... I'm just worried about you," Koujirou said weakly.

Chie wound the rosary tightly around her wrist. The red boils faded away, leaving nothing but smooth, partially-tanned skin once more. The girl turned away from Koujirou, pulling her knees to her chest.

Koujirou noticed her look of discomfort when he tried to look at her face. "...So the Priestess of Souls is in the finals," he said, changing the subject. "Are you sure you want to go in there?"

"I have something of an idea of what to do with Haruno," Chie said. "It was too easy to provoke her. And we've gone too far to back down now. If I fail, then Hirosuke can take over."

"I think it's a little weird," Koujirou said. Chie raised an eyebrow at him. He returned a nervous look. "I... I mean that if Haruno Sakura really is the Priestess of Souls — then why didn't she sense us?"

"I think she's still a novice at that kind of _job_," Chie said bitterly. "All the easier for us." She got up, and walked off, leaving a saddened Koujirou at the remains of the campfire.

* * *

Hinata's eyes shot open. A trail of sweat was on her brow.

"Onee-sama, it's ready!" Hanabi whispered.

Hinata nodded. The cool breeze from the open window washed away the ominous feeling she had only a second ago.

Hinata stretched out her arms towards a humongous glop of white, rubbery material.

Yes. It was the dread of all cooks. Rice, cooked and kneaded so often that the grains melted together — legitimately known as mochi.

Hanabi grabbed a hold of one end of the lump. It burned on contact, and made her let go. But as she had forgotten to dust her fingertips with rice flour, some of the sticky mochi glued to her fingers. She winced in pain. "The omochi's still too hot, Hanabi," Hinata warned a little too late.

"But it'll get all crusty if it cools too fast!" Hanabi shook her hand with the hot rice goo, attempting in vain to somehow cool it with the air. It was strange that the little girl had forgotten to dust rice flour over her hands, because the rest of her body was covered in the powder.

It was beyond late at night. After four nights of grounding, Hinata and Hanabi managed to sneak into the kitchen unnoticed. Because Hiashi had forbidden them to _buy _candy while grocery-shopping, Hinata decided that she could use the loophole of making traditional, homemade sweets in the dead of night. Hanabi wanted to help — but she seemed to gain a new sort of klutziness when it involved cooking. It was very viable that she would accidentally prepare the food wrong, or scorch something. Heck, even explosion was possible if she mixed in the wrong ingredient.

Hinata stirred the mixture of sweetened red beans with a spoon. Here came the real challenge: putting the filling in the middle of one hand-sized piece of mochi, and folding it up like an envelope.

Hinata's lavender eyes trailed onto the kneading board. Now that she thought about it, the white patterns in the rice flour made it look like there was a face...

Warashi jumped out of the flowered board. Hinata suppressed a squeak.

"Hinata-neechan," Warashi said with a sigh. "It's not good that you haven't gotten the Hardened Soul. That thing is really dangerous in the wrong hands."

Hinata nodded. She pulled one handful of mochi from the main lump and began molding it, just like how Hanabi was doing. Hinata was still trying to figure out how she was going to root out the Hardened Soul. It was clear that a boy amidst the test-takers of the Chuunin exams possessed the damn thing; the Spirit of the Forest even told her so. Who knew? Perhaps at the final tournament coming within one month, Hinata could act the pick-pocket to find the jewel.

"Hinata-neechan, this may be a little hard for you, but... you'll only find the owner of the Hardened Soul in the genin finalists."

Hinata's lips tightened. It was just as she had feared: she would have to go undercover. There was a huge chance that she'd get caught. Tsunade listened to her youkai-story carefully... and then told Hinata that she would have to think about it.

'I'm sure the Godaime-sama believed me... to a certain extent.' Hinata stubbornly tucked her upper lip under the lower one. 'At least I didn't tell her so much that I'm the Priestess of Souls. Maybe if I do this work undercover, I could do this alone... well, I'll need Warashi-chan's help, of course.'

Her thoughts lingered on Naruto. The Priestess absentmindedly blushed as she worked. She began to giggle. How could she have been so stupid as to cry at the very thought of Naruto being unfaithful to her, with a man? Well, she never really believed Sakura's claim of the rumors in the first place. It was just the very _idea_ that had terrified Hinata.

(( "Wait, wait, Hinata-chan!" Naruto grabbed onto Hinata's arm. "I'm straight! Sasuke and I have NEVER been like that; I swear!"

"I— I know, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, trying to cover her face. She was already ashamed of the tears escaping. "I'm sorry... I was just so surprised at the moment, that's all..."

Naruto embraced Hinata. "You've heard this before, Hinata-chan — but I like you."

Hinata nodded as she leaned into him. She felt so stupid! "I know, Naruto-kun. I'm sorry... I shouldn't react like this..."

"It was kind of cute, though." Naruto touched Hinata's nose with his own. "That you'd get jealous over a rumor like that."

Hinata began to laugh at herself — and from the tickling fingers of Naruto at her waist. "Naruto-kun, stop!"

"Why should I?" Naruto gave a fox-like grin. "I like it when you smile." ))

Hanabi squeezed a ball of mochi until it oozed out through her fingers. She knew that daydreaming look on her older sister. True, Hanabi was happy for Hinata getting a boyfriend. But it was just _annoying_ to the younger girl that Naruto took away Hinata's attention.

* * *

8:05 A.M.

A young lady in black pants and a green, Chinese-style top strode through the marketplace. Sakura now had her pink hair up in a short ponytail, although some bang-like locks had escaped the hair-tie and now draped around her face instead. Her forehead protector was gone; today was her day off to recover. She was shopping to refill the family's refrigerator, which by now had only a few molding vegetables and a carton of odd-tasting milk.

The morning light basked the village's center of commerce. This day of the week was the farmer's market. Customers chattered busily to each other, recommending that particular stall with fresh strawberries, or the vendor around the corner selling potatoes.

Sakura bend down at one vendor, looking at the sacks of grain with interest. "Oji-san!" she greeted. "I'll take one bag of brown rice, and one bag of white rice."

"Two sacks?" the aging farmer asked. "Are you sure you can carry all that?"

Sakura smiled. "Don't worry, my shoulders are bigger than the norm." She curled up one arm, and flexed it, displaying the lean muscles. "See?"

The old man laughed. "Good for you, young lady," he said with a good-natured cackle. "I like women with strength." He scooped the requested amount into two separate bags, and handed them to Sakura after she plunked down the bills.

Within an hour, Sakura's arms were full with produce. 'I had no idea that grocery shopping could be so much work...' she thought. 'At least it's fun to walk this street.'

A sudden yell cracked the lively and peaceful moment. "KAKASHI!"

The pink-haired girl blinked, and looked up. She knew that voice.

A raven-haired ninja blurred as he jumped from roof to roof, hot on the trail of a certain jounin.

'Sasuke is chasing... Kakashi-sensei?' Sakura — as well as the people around her — stared at the two ninja on the rooftops, high above the marketplace. Sakura's remembered doing such an activity similar to theirs, back in her childhood. What was it called again? Oh... Tag.

Sasuke's face was now livid. For the whole night, he had been forced to do a stop-and-go chase of the silver-haired jounin in pursuit of the camera. Obviously, it had been a night of hell for him. Sasuke had to learn how to track for a long duration of time without sleep, plus deter Kakashi from reaching the office of the Hokage. The worst thing about this task was that the principle activity had absolutely nothing to do with combat, as Sasuke preferred his missions to be. It was tracking, ambushing, and chasing. And it turned repetitive to a point of agony. The only reason why Sasuke did not collapse from exhaustion by now was that horrid image ingrained in his mind, which also happened to be recorded in Kakashi's camera.

Now that Sasuke thought about it, why was he doing something so pointless for a camera? Why was he going this far, anyway; it was just a picture.

'Just a picture?' his inner voice asked. 'It was Sakura's god-damn first kiss. And it happened to be with a WOMAN!'

Sasuke reacted differently to stress than most other people. When he failed in something, the first stage was a depressive mode. That had already happened last night when he nearly froze himself through exposure to the night air. The second stage was an urge to fix whatever fault he had (which usually involved training).

Another unusual reaction was his response to the deprivation of sleep. When Sasuke was tired, he did not gaze with a dull look on his face and dream of a bed — that wasn't enough for him, so he trained until he was exhausted enough to fall asleep. If that didn't work, he stayed awake... moody as ever. Then he would gradually turn contemplative. With luck, the thinking process would lull him into thick slumber.

The problem now was, even if he wanted to sleep, he couldn't, because it was already broad daylight. So he was now just frustrated, contemplative, and awake. As Sasuke thought about it, he asked himself: what the hell was he doing? Was _Sakura_ the main reason why he had agreed to Kakashi's crazy proposition in the first place?

As Sasuke paused for breath, he looked down at the marketplace. Sasuke's vision caught a set of bewildered green eyes. He was momentarily hypnotized by how fresh and clean Sakura looked.

Kakashi was quite surprised when Sasuke halted the chase. He was even more bewildered when Sasuke jumped into the marketplace below. 'Is he going there because of... Oh no.' Kakashi's eye widened in panic as his student dropped on the ground in front of a certain, pink-haired kunoichi.

The people backed away when the vested chuunin dropped in their midst. Unlike the rest of the people, Sakura didn't back away from Sasuke. 'I bet he's trying to tell me off again,' the medic-nin thought, standing her ground.

To her surprise, Sasuke did not look angry in the slightest. He looked nervous — maybe even shy. His hair was damp, bags hung around his eyes, and his black outfit appeared to have bits of roof tile sprayed on it.

"...Sorry about last night," Sasuke managed to say.

Sakura's green eyes widened.

Gasps erupted from the spectators. Knowing Uchiha Sasuke's infamy as a silent and cold-hearted man, that single sentence might as well have been a public declaration of love. Which it wasn't, but was damn close!

When it occurred to Sasuke what he just said, he wanted to curse. Shit! All of that guilt he felt from that argument, and his lack of sleep, pushed him into apologizing without observing his surrounding first!

Kakashi appeared on the scene, grabbed Sasuke by the back of his collar, and began to drag the unfortunate young man away. "Sorry for the commotion, ladies and gentlemen; my student is rather sleep-deprived and confused..."

Sasuke's dark eyes widened: he was within reaching distance! "Give me that damn camera!" Sasuke's hand shot forward, making it look like he was attacking his teacher.

'Camera?' Sakura looked curiously at the mechanism that Kakashi had hung around his neck.

"Yeah, FIGHT!" one spectator cheered.

"We're licensed ninja of Kohoha; our services are not to—" Kakashi realized that he, too, began to feel the effects of sleep-deprivation: Sasuke managed to cut apart the camera's strap with a kunai. The camera went flying.

The mechanism slid on the sandy street. But before Kakashi and Sasuke could pounce on it, a hand reached down and picked it up.

"What's this?" a suave, feminine voice asked. "Oh, hello, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke's dark eyes flashed as Ami held up the camera.

"Hand that over, woman," Sasuke ordered in a low voice.

Ami brushed the dirt off the camera, completely ignoring Sasuke. After all, even the great Uchiha Sasuke was under strict code; he could not do anything against her without serious repercussions. Even though Ami still admired him for his looks, that did not mean she had to obey his orders. In fact, it pleased her greatly that she held power over the hot stud.

"Put that down," Kakashi said in a grave tone. It was too late: she had already turned the camera on.

Ami stared at the digital screen. A chuckle escaped her. "I didn't know you were into girls... Forehead-girl."

Ami held up the screen for Sakura — and the spectators — to see. Sakura's green eyes widened in astonishment as she saw the tiny, yet very prominent, picture of her and Minoru.

The adults turned, and walked away with nervous looks on their faces.

"Don't mind her, Haruno-san," a gardener whispered to Sakura. "Just walk away. You're no less important to us because of that."

Sakura came back to her senses. That was right; she was in the middle of the marketplace. But what confused Sakura much more than the snapshot was the pained expression on Sasuke's face.

"You can't blackmail me with that, Ami," Sakura said, turning away. "I don't care anyways." Yet the scarlet over her cheeks gave a different message; an image like that was still private.

"I don't do blackmail," Ami scoffed. 'Don't you even _get it_, Forehead-girl?' she thought. 'That was only the first step in tarnishing your name.'

When Sakura disappeared in the crowd, Kakashi quickly took the camera out of Ami's hand. His one eye gave her a harsh glare, making her jerk in fright. "If you are a shinobi, then at least act like it. Don't hand around information like a common gossiper."

"It was _your_ camera," Ami counter-argued, quickly getting back her self-assurance.

Sasuke ground his teeth. He wanted very much to strangle the girl.

Ami walked away with a smirk on her red lips. No matter how much that creepy jounin lectured her, she had already earned victory for one battle, in her own way. Ami was certainly no homophobe; that kind of thinking turned unfashionable a long time ago. But she knew how rumors could spread. She was going to use it to her advantage like any good kunoichi. 'Within one month, I doubt whether Sakura could set a foot in the stadium.'

Sakura shook her head as she walked through the marketplace. Although Konoha was a good society on the whole, the kunoichi already could hear the gossipmongers whisper amidst themselves as she passed.

'I guess people aren't that different between dimensions,' Sakura mused to herself.

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	18. Illness

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Oh, it was funny reading the reactions of readers from last chapter. I could hear "What the (beep) is this" or "This isn't fun anymore" and "I can't believe I wasted my time on this fic" as the havoc ensued in the plot. To those readers who expected this to be a lovey-dovey type fic, well... you had been warned. I said in chapter one that the mood would range from "funny to weird to dark", and I'm sticking by it. I refuse to make things easy for the main characters, because otherwise the story wouldn't be interesting.

Questions and requests I have received, and the answers pertaining:

"Why does the Hirosuke/Chie/Koujirou team think that Sakura is the Priestess of Souls, when we all know it's Hinata?" - Koujirou witnessed Sakura hold Sasuke's hitodama in the Forest of Death, back in chapter 15. Of course, Koujirou-kun has some doubts about his initial assessment, as shown in his conversation with Chie...

"Could you make Naruto/Hinata/Sakura/Potamos kill Hirosuke, pretty please?" - I can't promise anything.

"Why the hell is Sasuke infatuated with Sakura, and Sakura seems oblivious? That is so out-of-character!" - Yes, that is totally correct! The only excuses backing me up are poetic license, and their ages of 17 and 16. As you know, people change as they grow. There are other reasons, too...

"Poor Hanabi-chan with her jealousy; make her accept Naruto!" - I'm afraid to say that if Hanabi ever forgives Naruto for stealing away Hinata's attention, it will take a very long time. This kind of thing happens with siblings in real life, especially between girls. My own little sister absolutely HATED it when I got a boyfriend in high school, because the time I spent with her lessened. Hanabi will just have to live with it, and enjoy what time left she has with Hinata. There's just not enough love from Hinata to go around — no matter how nice she is, she only has 24 hours per day, and she's a busy girl.

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 18: Illness

* * *

Sakura panted, with sweat covering her body. She lay on her back on the platform where the Hokage made public announcements. Right next to her slithered a tiny slug.

Tsunade crossed her arms. "I'll leave you to practice on your own. If you can produce a slug as tall as yourself — when you're standing UPRIGHT — get back to me."

Sakura groaned. She had signed her name in the summoning contract already a year ago. Her best attempt ever had produced a slug as tall as her waist, but there had been no progress after that rare occasion. After a while, Sakura just grew discouraged and stopped summoning — but it seemed that now she had to pick up where she had left off. And just because Tsunade judged her stamina too low...

Tsunade began to walk off. Sakura grumbled under her breath. "I should have asked Kakashi-sensei to train me instead..."

"What's that?" a halting Tsunade asked, an edge to her voice.

"Nothing, Shishou!" Sakura quickly piped up, fearful of her master's wrath. She breathed a sigh of relief when the Hokage continued her way back to the office.

The tiny slug next to Sakura's head disappeared with a poof, leaving nothing but a trail of slime. That had been Sakura's fiftieth attempt. She began to feel the draining effect of repeating a strong technique like summoning.

'Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Sheep... Kuchiyose no Jutsu!'

A slug with the size of a fist appeared. The pink-haired girl scooped it up in her hand, and traced a finger over its shiny surface. Back when she first tried the summoning, Sakura had felt a little afraid of touching the slimy creatures, just like little girls were grossed out with the sight of ground worms. Now, she thought the glossy invertebrate to be rather pretty.

"Could you be my confidant for a little while?" Sakura asked the creature within her hand.

"Of course," the slug murmured. Its kind spoke little, even to their own summoners, yet their patience made them excellent listeners. "What ails thee?"

Sakura sighed. She allowed the slug to travel over her wrist, and petted its head gently with her finger. "There's this male friend of mine... We kind of argued, and he apologized... but now it's kind of cold. He thinks I am attracted to the female sex, when I'm not."

"Your words confuse me," the snail said. "What do you mean by 'male' and 'female'?"

Sakura slapped her head with her free hand. Of course; all slugs had both male and female sex organs, and thus had no real gender. They usually mated in pairs to shuffle up the genes for the coming generations. But if need be, a slug could produce offspring on its own without a mate. Older slugs for summoning, like the great Katsuyu, would know more about human peering issues — but this little one was too young to know such trifles.

"I see." The slug was pensive, after Sakura had slowly explained what gender meant. "Your kind's strict mating rituals baffle me. So you are saying... that your friend wishes to mate with you only?"

Sakura jerked. How in the world did the conversation turn into this? "No! He just was upset as a friend that..." Her sentence trailed off lamely when an outrageous thought crossed her mind. Had Sasuke been...jealous?

"Forgive me; I do not think I am the correct mentor for your problem," the slug apologized. "I will never understand your kind's relationships."

The slug turned confused, and then slightly hurt, when Sakura threw her head back in laughter.

"What's so funny?"

Sakura was in a fit of giggles. Did she really just think that Sasuke might be attracted to her... in that way? It was logically impossible. How ridiculous.

The slug drooped, somewhat disappointed that its master did not take it seriously.

Sakura wiped a tear away from her eye, and noticed the animal's silence. "I'm sorry. It's just that... Never mind. I didn't laugh because of you." One of her fingers stroked the back of the slug. "Thank you for talking with me. I feel a little bit better."

"Then I take my leave." It disappeared in a puff.

Sakura wiped the mucus off her arm, and got back up. She made the hand-seals. 'Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Sheep...' She slammed her hand on the surface. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

The same slug appeared again. "Is there... something else on your mind?" the invertebrate asked gently, albeit in a slightly annoyed tone.

The medic gave a sheepish grin. "Uh, no, actually... Tsunade-sama wants me to practice this calling technique, and I accidentally called you again. Sorry about that." The slug disappeared for a second time.

Sakura interlaced her fingers, and used them to pillow her head as she lay back. 'It's true that control makes up for my lack of stamina, but what if I burn out? I want to live, too.' She glanced up at the clear blue sky above. 'I have to be good enough in the tournament... good enough to avoid death while I fake being bad! Then I'd be able to stay a genin, and then sneak into the Hidden Rain Village without being noticed!'

A tiny voice in the back of her head said that the idea was slightly offset, by the fact that the Rain would not be holding an exam for quite a while. The recent civil war hindered Sakura's plans of touring as many hidden villages as possible, to see how secure they were. This was why Sakura initially didn't want to take Konoha's Chuunin Exams; she had thought them a waste of time if the exams were held in her own hometown.

The Hidden Rain Village was one village she had not looked into. And looking at the situation now, she may never visit it. Because the Rain had not officially requested help from the Leaf (in fact, they seemed a little pissed that the Leaf was protecting some of their runaway genin for the Chuunin Exams), no Konoha-nin was allowed to travel there, unless it was for a mission in rescuing someone.

A voice came out of the blue. "What happened to your training?"

Sakura's eyes opened, only to see two black ones staring straight into hers. "Sasuke!" At her shriek of frustration, Sasuke backed away. The kunoichi sat up, and put a hand over her nervously beating heart. "Don't sneak up on my like that!"

"Your fault for not noticing me."

Sakura gave a weak laugh. "Yeah, I guess," she said in a defeated tone. "You're the first person other than Tsunade-sama to begin conversation with me today."

Sasuke wasn't surprised in the least. That public 'exposure' had been three days ago.

"Ignore them," the raven-haired shinobi advised. "It's actually relaxing when people aren't bothering you."

Sasuke stooped himself down next to Sakura. The two of them often did this during his rehabilitation: just sitting together, usually a meter separating them. It was a strange sort of meeting. Sasuke would not want to speak about his endeavors with Orochimaru, and Sakura would evade any question pertaining to her one-year absence from Konoha. Thus, little or no conversation would take place. But simply knowing a friend was next to him would comfort him a bit. And perhaps it had also helped Sakura back then. Now, it was just a gesture of friendship between them.

Sasuke looked at the medic-nin, clad in her green shirt and black pants. He had been curious about why she never wore anything outside of it.

"What happened to your red dress?"

Sakura looked at him in surprise.

Sasuke glanced to the side. "The one in our genin days."

Sakura cocked her head upward, studying the clouds. "I already told you before: that thing got shredded." The answer was with a note of finality. Sasuke would be more than upset if he knew the details of that story, especially if he knew — remembered — what had destroyed that dress.

"Oh."

Somehow, Sasuke had been hoping that it had been fixed. Even if Sakura couldn't fit into it now because she had, ehem, grown in certain areas over the years, he thought she might at least have it mended and keep it as a memory. Perhaps if Sakura ever had a daughter, she could hand that shinobi-outfit down.

A long silence stood between them.

"I couldn't find Lee-san today," Sakura suddenly mentioned.

Sasuke glanced at her. Lee? He wondered whether she was falling back into talk about courting and other such nonsense. Since when did Sakura seek out that thick-browed freak?

But he held his tongue when he saw her trembling.

"I wanted to ask him for training, but he shut himself up in his apartment." Sakura could feel the tears dripping out of her eyes. She knew that she wasn't supposed to tell this sort of idiocy to the likes of Sasuke, but the words were pouring out of her mouth like a waterfall, unstoppable and strong. "I think he's avoiding me..."

Sasuke stared at the now-hunched form of Sakura. He had no idea what to say.

"Oh, damn..." Sakura turned away with a forced smile on her face. "Sorry. I shouldn't have told you that." She shook her head, freshening herself up for another round. The kunoichi stood up and walked over to the center of the building's top, away from Sasuke's seated form. She clapped her hands together. Sasuke watched.

The pink-haired kunoichi halted, and turned around. "Do you have any tips for the Kuchiyose no Jutsu?" she suddenly asked. "Is there a constant chakra-to-animal-size ratio in the technique?"

Sasuke was now baffled at her sudden mood change. Wasn't she crying just ten seconds ago? And what was with the mathematical lingo she spouted off? Ninjutsu was ninjutsu, he thought.

"Uh..." was all he could say.

Sakura sighed. Of course Sasuke wouldn't know useless information like that; he depended more on intuition than... the written knowledge she got from scrolls. The differences between them when it came to learning the shinobi arts — they were so distinct that it seemed like a language barrier hung between them.

"Sorry I asked from an uneducated moron," she muttered under her breath. "Can't put action into words..."

Sasuke's ears had picked that up. "Who's an uneducated moron?" he asked.

Sakura was surprised that he had actually heard her quiet words. 'Holy crap; Sasuke's hearing is uber-sensitive!'

Then Sakura had a sudden thought: manipulate the situation. What if she tricked Sasuke into training her by taunting him? He seemed to do it quite well on Naruto. Plus, she was kind of pissed off at him for not sympathizing with her troubles with Lee. It wasn't really Sasuke's obligation to sympathize, she knew, (he couldn't do it anyway, at least to her knowledge) but she felt a strange urge to give him a verbal bitch-slap. And that was exactly what she did.

"I don't see anybody else around, when I say _uneducated moron_," she said haughtily. "I'm sorry, Sasuke_-kun_. I'm such an idiot, thinking that even a genius like you couldn't explain the finer details of the Kuchiyose to me." She turned around, her pink hair swishing.

Sasuke grit his teeth. First of all, he thought, Sakura had no right to call herself an idiot, because she was far from it. Secondly, he _could_ have finesse when it came to explaining things, if he put his mind to it. Bah! She asks him for summoning, and rightfully so! He bit his finger to draw blood, and his hands whipped into the equation. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A burst of smoke enveloped parts of his body, and before Sakura knew it, an anaconda already was wound around the chuunin's lean form. Sakura stared. That thing was enormous! If it attacked her feet, it could easily gulp her down as a meal.

"First of all, concentrate the chakra on your fingertips," Sasuke said with an authoritative voice. "You have control already down. Secondly, get the animal to become comfortable with your body odor."

Sakura crossed her arms. "Body odor?" she asked. "That sounds a little pervy. What kind of body odor, because there are lots!"

"Any one," Sasuke answered stiffly, turning away his eyes. The anaconda chuckled at his master's embarrassment. The raven-haired ninja resisted the urge to strangle it. "Get them... familiar with the smell of your hands."

Sakura held up her hands in front of her face. "My hands?"

"Touch them, but with more respect than you would to a common household pet. Do not _cuddle_ ninja-animals." Sasuke carefully trailed his hand over the reptile's back. With a satisfied hiss, the animal disappeared from Sasuke with a poof. "Do the jutsu enough, stroke them, and they'll grow fond of your scent. It'll get easier the more times you do it."

"My scent, huh?" Sakura leaned back. "I could also get the animal's smell on myself... Maybe I should go down to the river and pet the slugs that are over the rocks."

"Your calling animals are SLUGS?" Sasuke almost shuddered. Snakes were crawling and crafty animals, but a soft, wet invertebrate was not on Sasuke's normal list of what he thought could be useful ninja animals. Plus... slugs were gooey.

"Their mucus does wonders!" Sakura's green eyes were bright. "Slugs are really cool. They produce two types of mucus, one sticky, the other slippery. The sticky stuff you can use for climbing walls. The slippery stuff you can drop behind you when you're fleeing an enemy. Both types are great when you want to make medicine."

"Remind me that I never take any oral medication from you ever again," Sasuke muttered.

"Oh, don't be such a whiner," Sakura shot back. "The stuff is quite versatile. They even use it to make organic—" Sakura clamped her mouth in silence. A rush of heat went to her face. 'Oh God, I almost began to discuss with Sasuke about sex jelly!' she thought. It was good she had caught herself.

The kunoichi began to feel some physical discomfort. A dull headache permeated her brow. It had been there all day, but she had decided to ignore it.

Sasuke looked at the medic-nin's face — or at least, tried to. Sakura had turned quiet, and looked away from him. Her skin tone was unhealthy. "Sakura," he stated, "Do you have a fever?"

"Uh, no!" She lifted up a waving hand. "I'm fine! Maybe it's just the sun."

Sasuke looked up at the sky. It was cloudy.

Sakura trembled. The air was so warm that it suffocated her, but her body felt strangely chilled.

Sasuke heard her irregular breathing. The Uchiha put his palm on her forehead. His dark eyes sharpened. "You're burning. You shouldn't train."

The feel of his calloused hands made Sakura excessively panic for some reason. "Um, no, I'll just go home..."

She then caught sight of Sasuke's eye. Their pupils swirled red.

"Oh damn you," Sakura whispered, before she fell into the hypnosis-genjutsu. Sasuke caught the sleeping girl in his arms.

* * *

Minoru stretched up his arms as he walked. Potamos was elsewhere, hopping from inn to inn disguised as an entertainer.

The blonde was back in his Shinto robes. He had burned his shinobi-outfit already a few kilometers back. He was far enough from Konohagakure that his ears took a more human-like shape. He made his way to the shrine on foot, just like any normal priest's apprentice.

Autumn was visibly in motion through this part of the country. The trees would vary from deep greens, all the way to rich yellows and reds, brightening the landscape when the sun could not.

In one red tree, Minoru spotted a swirl of black and red.

The blond elf smiled. "You can't deceive me with that kind of illusion," he said smoothly. He quickly evaded a thrown kunai. It made a quiet thud in the trunk. Minoru pulled the small weapon out. "Quit throwing those rusty things; the tree will... Oh, damnation."

The blond threw the kunai back, deflecting a shuriken. The atmosphere around him wavered: Minoru closed his eyes, and quickly sent ki through his brain. His blue eye opened with a chilling effect, dispelling the illusion. Now he had to watch his back —

A kunai pointed at Minoru's jugular. "Still too slow."

Minoru slowly turned his head, meeting blood-red eyes and black hair.

"You never cease to amaze me, Human." The elf had never addressed Uchiha Itachi by his full name, by the man's request. Apparently, that regalia was part of some terrorist organization of this world.

"You didn't even make the effort." Itachi slotted the kunai back in the holster. "How many of them did you find?"

"A team of three," Minoru answered. "They all made it into the finals, of course."

Itachi scrutinized Minoru from the corner of his eye. "You didn't kill them?" His deep voice was as controlled as ever, but the blond elf felt the edge of impatience in the human's simple question.

"Sakura will handle them, I'm sure." Minoru tucked back a loose strand of wavy hair behind his now-rounded ear.

"Whatever happened to 'keep a low profile'?" Itachi asked. "Even when impersonating a shinobi, you are severely deficient."

Minoru rubbed the slight wound on his neck. "If Sakura snaps during a fight, and her aura undergoes a class-change as a result... then her infamy would be worth it." The elf's blue eyes glanced to the coloring trees once more. "Her subservience to that village infuriates me to no end." The elf kept his eyes on the autumn leaves, but clearly addressed Itachi with the next sentence: "I suppose you left your own village for that reason."

"Perhaps." Itachi pulled his cloak closer as the cool wind picked up. "You did the same thing, I can tell." The black-haired man disappeared in a rush of leaves.

Minoru frowned. 'That bastard can see through anything.'

* * *

Sasuke panted in the middle of the streets, a sleeping Sakura tied to his back. 'Just one block more...'

Part of it was his fault, really. Not the part about Sakura having a cold, but making her unconscious after he noticed her illness. Sasuke had not considered how heavy she would be. It was probably the crazy-ass strength lessons the Hokage taught her apprentice. How much muscle could actually fit in a girl?

Sasuke had already tried Sakura's house. The place was locked and empty; it seemed that both her parents were away for the night. He searched Sakura's pockets, and found no key to her house. He could have called Tsunade, but she would probably give him a thrashing because of Sakura's unconscious state.

Besides: the thought of Sakura staying at his place entertained him. It was a sure thing, at least to his mind, that nothing great would happen. But he cared about her, right? And taking care of such an adorable friend was too good to pass up. Even though Sakura was heavy... and ill... and drooling through the back of his shirt, Sasuke felt very much inclined to house her for the night.

Of course, the absurdity of the situation did not help him at all as he made his way to the residence.

One passing drunk cackled at the sleeping beauty. "You've got a _piece_ there, my friend."

"Buzz off," the Uchiha nearly snarled before storming off. If there was anything he despised, it was slurs and glances of lewdness towards Sakura. The rumor that she was a lesbian did not seem to deter males from looking at her, much to Sasuke's inner fury. 'It doesn't make sense!' the foreign voice complained. 'Those guys can't even HAVE her by definition!'

After he emptied his pocket of a dart, a worn-down pencil, a tiny packet of sun-dried tomato pieces (?), a shuriken, and a tiny blank scroll for writing out fuda, Sasuke finally found the key. With great of balance and strength in his legs to support Sakura, the raven-haired shinobi fiddled with the keyhole and swung the door open.

He made his way through the hall, and to where Sakura could sleep off the cold: a bed. After cutting the strings and letting Sakura down, Sasuke hurried to fetch some extra blankets. Sasuke could easily make the watery rice-porridge called okayu, but he wasn't so sure about preparing egg-sake. He didn't know the recipe like how his mother made it — and he obviously didn't have sake at his place. He decided to safely settle on tea.

* * *

Sakura groaned. Her form twisted, making the blanket around her crinkle into bunches.

"Awake?"

Sakura's eyes shot open at the deep voice. She got up with a start. Two eyes flashed at her through the darkness — the moon was not bright enough to make out his face.

Sakura did what any girl would do if she woke up in a strange bedroom with a guy: attack him.

Sasuke stopped her fist easily, and flicked on the light. Wow, she had energy. Or at least, for a moment.

The kunoichi slumped back onto the bed. "Ow," Sakura croaked. Muscle-soreness. She looked up, and was surprised to see that it was her old teammate. She then remembered that Sasuke had hypnotized her with his eyes. "Care to explain why you kidnapped me?"

"I did not kidnap you," he said in a monotone. "You have a cold." Sasuke began to tuck back the blankets that Sakura had overturned. "Your parents weren't home, and I couldn't find your house keys. So you're at my place."

"Oh." Sakura rolled over, turning away from Sasuke. She slowly began to get up from the bed. "Don't you have a couch? I'll be fine with that—"

Sasuke gently pushed her back down on the mattress. "You already infected this bed, so you're sleeping in it," he said firmly. "Besides, I don't have any other soft furniture."

The weight of his words suddenly sunk into the both of them.

"...What?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke turned away. Oh, his suggestion would sound terrible... "We can share for tonight." He shot her a warning look. "I won't touch you."

"I know _that_!" Sakura exclaimed. "It's just that you might get sick as well!"

"Maybe." Sasuke shrugged. "But it beats getting sick on the cold floor. I already got exposed when you salivated on me as I carried you." He turned around, and showed her the dark stain on his shirt.

Sakura twitched. 'I never asked for your opinion!' The kunoichi heaved a sigh, and she shifted her body closer to the edge of the bed. At least it was big enough for two people.

Sasuke pulled out a drawer from the dresser, and threw Sakura a large T-shirt. "It's clean. I'll go check the food."

Sakura cautiously picked up the shirt, and began to undress. This was just a normal sleepover. Yes, that was it. He was just being helpful.

She had just finished dressing herself when Sasuke yanked the door open.

A bowl of steaming okayu was in his hands. He set it down on the bed in front of her. "That's the best I can make." He handed her a spoon. "It's a little more watery than the norm."

Sasuke withdrew and closed the door. The pink-haired kunoichi felt stunned. She picked up the spoon, ladled up a bit of the soup-like rice to her mouth, and tasted it. Bland, as it should be. And its temperature was hot enough to make her feel a little better.

Outside the door, Sasuke clutched his chest. What in the world was he doing? Moreover, why was he so nervous? Well, the main reason was that he had a sexy, wonderful, and (currently) helpless sixteen-year-old girl in his bed for the whole night. There were also other worries pricking his psyche. Was the okayu was too plain? Too hot? Too cold? Did he forget something? The kettle in the kitchen spewed out a whistle. The tea!

When Sasuke came back to the moonlit bedroom with the herbal tea, he saw that Sakura had already fallen asleep. The bowl of okayu stood half-eaten on the dresser nearby.

'Well, at least she ate something.' Sasuke put the tea to the side. After making sure Sakura was asleep, Sasuke undressed himself. A plain T-shirt and boxers seemed decent enough.

Sasuke let himself down on the bed, and gazed at Sakura from above. The young lady held a very peaceful aura as she slept. He noticed that Sakura's hair was still back in a tight ponytail — he took care to loosen it without disrupting her.

Sasuke lay down, facing Sakura's back. As he listened to the night's silence, the rhythm of her breathing soothed him. The Uchiha usually had trouble falling asleep at night: he had a habit of thinking too much about depressing things, like how empty the place was, and how alone he felt. But now he had someone else's needs to concentrate on. Maybe that would better induce slumber.

The minutes ticked by.

After about an hour of staring at Sakura's form, Sasuke decided that much-hoped-for-peace was not coming anytime soon. The neckline of his enormous shirt on Sakura had slowly deepened, giving him an awesome view of her graceful neck and back. Sasuke felt a need to run his fingers over her skin, to just caress her — but no. She wouldn't react positively to such touching anyway, even if she were awake.

Sasuke re-tucked the blanket around her form, trying desperately to ignore the natural scent her pink hair gave off. He went back to his side of the bed, and turned his head away from Sakura. He had to keep reminding himself: Sakura was only here because she was sick.

His breath stopped when Sakura rolled over.

The skin of her arms was cold, he noticed. She must not have been adequately covered. Her sleeping form snuggled up against the Uchiha, seeking his warmth.

Sasuke did not like this. The medic-nin was so close that her nose touched right under his ear. When he shifted, he moved in the wrong direction: he felt her soft lips touch the sensitive skin on his neck. He squirmed. Sakura's leg intertwined with his own.

Apparently, her sleeping self thought of him as a warm teddy bear. The soft touch of her breasts crushed against his arm. He realized that she wore no bra under that shirt.

'Oh, shit...' Hormonal thoughts raced through the seventeen-year-old's brain. 'Calm down. It's no big deal. She's a lesbian, remember?' Somehow, that thought disappointed him all the more.

But if she embraced him first, that meant he could return it.

Sasuke wrapped his arms around the girl's waist, and shifted himself. He nudged Sakura's head to rest within the crevice of his right shoulder. It was just one night, he decided. He had to enjoy it while it lasted.

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	19. Realization

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

My finals are on the next weekend, so I'll be late.

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 19: Realization

* * *

Sakura awoke. Dawn began to break through the shutters. The kunoichi felt something weird. Her green eyes opened fully.

Someone was holding her!

Wait, it was only Sasuke. There was no inappropriate groping of the sort... Only arms around her waist, and his nose touching her right cheek. But her body against Sasuke's — this was a bit much for a virgin girl like her. Did the cold-hearted avenger initiate this? Maybe Kakashi had educated Sasuke in perverted tactics (or maybe it was Naruto; teenage guys discussed the most outrageous things with each other when girls were absent). And Sasuke had the nerve to test them on her, of all people! Well, he _did_ think that she was a lesbian — according to that definition, this was nothing more than two good friends hugging each other for warmth during the night.

Sakura's eyes drunk in his image. She did not feel so awkward anymore with the closeness. Sasuke looked sated, peaceful. No angst traced his brow. Sakura almost felt guilty that she would have to wake him up.

What surprised her more than the peaceful expression was his grip on her. Up until now, Sakura had imagined Sasuke to be cold to the touch. Yet his embrace was warm, protective, and surprisingly gentle. Whatever happened to the firm 'I won't touch you'?

Sakura realized that her headache was gone. Her tongue swept around her teeth — the cold had already passed.

One of her hands slinked carefully through the sheets, and rested upon Sasuke's shoulder. Sakura gently shook him. "Sasuke," she murmured. No response. "Sasuke!" she said again, this time a bit louder.

The raven-haired ninja stirred. He blinked once. Sakura's gaze penetrated his eyes. "What?"

"Uh..." Sakura did not have the heart to shove him off, or order him to let go. "Don't you have a mission?" she asked.

"I'm off missions for three days," Sasuke said groggily, before closing his eyes again. "Of course, I'll attend a class in the afternoon." He did not let go of Sakura.

Sakura stiffened when he drew her close. Then, she slowly relaxed against him. Despite what Logic repeated to her, she could help but think that this felt so right, snuggling into him. He was a wonderful friend. She just had to know her limits better when it came to romantic entanglements.

Sasuke's eyes shot open. A hint of panic was in their dark depths. "Your parents."

"Oh, them," Sakura said. "My folks are gone for a few days at a resort. ...I left my house keys in my locker at the Hokage's office."

Sasuke groaned before dropping back into the covers.

"Breakfast?" Sakura offered gently.

"Not yet." In actual truth, Sasuke really wanted something to eat, but that would mean letting Sakura go. 'Just a few more minutes...'

The footsteps of two figures echoed in his ears.

Sasuke bolted upward. A whimper threatened to come out of Sakura at the stripping of her heat source, but then she recognized the look on his face: battle-scenario.

The chuunin quickly got out of the bed, and reached for his kunai. "Intruders," Sasuke whispered. They were already in the house. From the subtle footwork, Sasuke could hear that those two were at least jounin-level — damn it, why did an ambush have to fall NOW?

Sakura reached for her shuriken holster. As her aura-senses tingled, she felt something from above. 'There!'

Oversized T-shirt or not, the medic-nin planted her foot on the wall and jumped up to the ceiling like a monkey. "Gotcha!" she shouted, powering up her fist. The brief shimmering of a cloak slid past the ceiling as Sakura landed a chakra-infused punch into the wood. She winced when a few splinters penetrated her unprotected knuckles. She touched down on the dust-covered floor. 'Damn, I missed!' she thought. Not to mention she made a large, gaping hole in Sasuke's ceiling.

As for the Uchiha, he reached for a piece of string. "Sakura, duck!" She did just that, and his finger pulled the thread. A trap door flipped open from the wall.

A collection of needles shot out of it to nearly every corner of the room.

Two cloaked figures warped into visibility.

Sakura's mouth was agape. The intruders were... ANBU.

One of the figures pulled off his hood. Sasuke recognized the mask and hairstyle.

"Your house security sucks," the ANBU captain told Sasuke. "Rely on more than one lock when shutting the door. And for heaven's sake, put on a fuda or two." He pointed at the trapdoor, now empty of its projectiles. "Good work on setting that up, but regularly replace the senbon — or at least take them out to clean them now and then." He pulled one of the needles out of the wall, and critically studied its reddish-brown tip. "Rust."

"That's what I planned," Sasuke said. "Iron-poisoning."

Sakura grimaced. She once read a book of torture devices, and the spiked-chair was one of the most horrid. The victims of it usually died — not by bleeding, but the rust of the iron nails trailing into their bloodstreams. 'So Sasuke knows about that chemical poisoning... Probably Orochimaru taught him that, but I won't ask.'

"Tipping them with paralysis-liquid is far more useful," the captain said. "Plus, rust will make senbon stick in the dart-holder, and won't shoot right." He and his partner turned around to leave the room. "You have the rest of the day off, Uchiha. Sorry to intrude on your quality time with your girlfriend."

The two hooded men fled.

"What... the hell was that all about?" Sakura rose up, looking at the absolute mess of a bedroom. Indeed, that ambush upset her greater than the comment about her being Sasuke's girlfriend. "What do they think they ARE? Breaking in as if—"

"For training, they constantly set up spontaneous tests," Sasuke explained. He opened a window. The distinct yell of a certain hyperactive blond echoed through the air.

"Seems like Naruto got it as well." Sakura picked up her pile of clothes (after pulling out a senbon pinning them to the ground), and walked towards the bathroom to change.

Sasuke blinked as she left the room. Sakura's white legs were impressive to behold. But now as the morning broke with new light, Sasuke could not help but wonder where those faint, linear scars came from.

* * *

A chill swept over Hinata as she knelt in her room. Before her lay an omamori — a protective talisman.

It basically was a white, silk packet with a red tie. The origin of this amulet was like almost any other: hand-crafted in a temple. But this one, plus two others, had been tinkered with by a little holy magic.

Two days ago, Hinata had purchased three omamori from the nearest shrine. After getting the correct order of hand-seals from Zashiki Warashi, Hinata performed a jutsu on each to make them into a sort of communicator. Whenever a demon sprung up within a ten-kilometer radius, the omamori would glow and give directions to the said monster. Hinata, Sasuke and Naruto could reach the destination without calling each other by electronic devices, which were often time-consuming and battery-dependant. These innocent-looking items would warm to the touch like a silent alarm. Even the embroidery on the fabric would glow in formation, displaying words and arrows.

Sweat formed on Hinata's brow. Some of the omamori's cloth began to shine so bright that rainbow colors shimmered in the white stitches. The colors formed into distinct symbols. -East. 1.2 kilometers.-

Hinata held her breath. Finally, a youkai showed up. She turned on her Byakugan, then advanced it to the second stage. The ebb and flow of spiritual energy was correct: the talisman worked!

"Onee-sama!" Hanabi entered the room, holding up a scroll. "I think I found—"

Her older sister zoomed past her. "No time, Hanabi-chan!" Hinata called down the hallway, in the loudest voice she had ever used in the Hyuuga mansion. "Maybe later!"

* * *

The morning had gone by too quickly for Sasuke. After cleaning up the mess in his bedroom, Sakura made him a full-fledged breakfast — miso soup, rice, and tea — in an arrangement and quantity which from his perspective looked like dinner. Once the dishes were done, she dragged him out to the grocery store to get more 'healthy' foods.

"I can't believe for a combat shinobi like you, that's all you have in the fridge!" Sakura exclaimed. "We'll just get some basic ingredients which keep long and are easy to cook. And they'll definitely have more nutritional value than — pickled plums!"

"There's nothing wrong with what I eat." Sasuke was glad that Sakura was well again, but was it a requirement that she take over his diet completely? She sounded like... a wife, or a mother. Well, perhaps the similarity to his own dead mother was the only reason Sasuke tolerated Sakura's ranting.

But SO WHAT if he practically lived off tomatoes, rice, and takeout? Rice-balls were the perfect on-the-go meal for a busy shinobi like him. He was still alive! Thanks to training, and what he already ate. Little things like pickled plums and furikake added enough variety.

"Brown rice is just normal rice with the husks still on — actually, they're loaded with vitamins. Barley is also a good substitute for rice. If you're adamant about having white rice, then mix a little of other grains in, or get more vegetables. The next thing to remember—"

Sakura's sentence trailed off into nothing as she saw him stare at the side. Was Sasuke even _listening _to her?

Instead of shouting at the boy like any normal girl, an evil smirk spread on her face. The kunoichi reexamined the grocery list. "Well, I could always add poison..."

Sasuke scowled. "What?"

"Ah HA! So you _are_ listening!" Sakura said in triumph. At Sasuke's grumpy look, she gave a gentle smile. "Sorry. It was my fault for ranting."

The raven-haired ninja felt some warmth in his clothes. He quietly made sure Sakura was way ahead of him as they walked towards the store. From his pocket, Sasuke pulled out an omamori. Unlike Hinata's white-and-red one, his was a solid blue with silver embroidery. The argent lines shone in different corners, compassing the way he needed to take.

Sakura turned around, checking to see if Sasuke had bolted. He just stood looking at something in his hand. Sakura again recognized that look on Sasuke's face.

Sasuke bit his lip — at least he had enough tact to appear guilty.

"You really did forget a mission, didn't you?" Sakura asked.

An old couple passed by the two. "How adorable! They must be newly-weds..."

Sakura's face turned crimson. "Um, no, you see, we're not—"

What wisdom the elderly showered onto the young. At least, that was in Sasuke's mind for the moment.

Sasuke shoved his wallet and house-key into Sakura's hand. With all the acting skills he could muster (he was a ninja, after all), he looked deeply into Sakura's eyes. "Buy whatever you think necessary. I'll come home as soon as possible." As tenderly a husband would do to his wife, his mouth came close to Sakura's ear. He stopped respectfully, just behind her strands of hair. "Just play along," he whispered. "I really need to go."

Sakura found herself swallowing. She gingerly nodded. The kunoichi backed away to allow him space — she felt something faintly brush over her cheek.

The raven-haired ninja was already gone in a mad sprint.

Sakura touched the side of her face. What was that?

The medic-nin mentally brushed it off. In any case, she had to get Sasuke's meals to be a little fresher, with more variety. Hell, she was the bargain-queen when it came to buying good food! And looking at the thickness of his wallet, the raven-haired ninja definitely could afford something of higher quality and nutrition than the crap in his refrigerator. As much as an asshole he could be at times, he also had proven himself to be caring and considerate by nursing her back to health. It was only fair she do a bit of thinking if she were shopping for his groceries.

Plus, Sasuke was a ninja, and a great one at that. It would be a pity if he expired because of a narrow diet of rice and pickled fruit. Sakura could easily imagine _that man_ laughing at Sasuke's inability to fight due to vitamin deficiencies.

Sakura rubbed her forehead. Speaking of Uchiha Itachi, she wondered how much Sasuke thought of him nowadays.

* * *

Three genin of the Leaf stood at the edge of a cliff.

"This is our training ground, Sensei?" Ami brushed away a strand of her well-groomed hair. "Talk about intense."

The Konoha jounin smiled. "It'll be intense." A black shadowy line traced his neck. "Intense indeed."

Without warning, he lashed out at the three.

A rib-cracking kick went into Ami's gut. The jounin's hands grabbed a hold of the necks of the other two, and threw them off the edge. The poor kids did not even see the blows coming — they had never seen their superior move so fast before, not even when they ran into foreign shinobi in outside missions. Their jounin teacher gave a sinister smirk as the three fell down the cliff, shrieking.

"Idiots." What the genin had thought was their instructor, was only Hirosuke using a Henge no Jutsu.

The panic of a death-drop immediately was quenched by a wash of darkness. A black-colored sheet formed underneath the falling genin, like a rescue net. Except that it was nothing like a net in physical terms. Their bodies passed right through the cold sheet — their souls remained on top, fresh and beautiful. The enchanted curtain was a sieve to catch spirits. Like glistening beads of water, the blue hitodama rolled with shivers over the black cloth.

The bodies landed fortunately — or unfortunately, in Hirosuke's mind — on a protrusion of the cliff. Hirosuke massaged his temple. "Instead of breakage of bones or splattering at the bottom, their bodies die by sun exposure. How very sad."

"You monster," another voice whispered.

Hirosuke turned around, to face no other than Hyuuga Hinata. Little did he know that such an outraged look on the girl was a rare moment in itself. "Oh, it seems like I was caught."

Hinata took a Jyuuken stance. "How dare you ambush and kill a group of defenseless—"

"Those genin weren't defenseless," Hirosuke corrected, pointing a finger back where the genin stood only a minute ago. "They were just stupid." His hands crossed into several seals. "As are you, for confronting me."

Hinata did not say anything more. Instead, she charged at him. Her Byakugan could very well see that this was not a real jounin from Konoha. It was actually the creep who groped her.

Hirosuke was at first bewildered that a civilian girl would challenge him to a fight without any weapons. Then he recognized her as the impudent brat in the Forest of Death. He was amused, but also disappointed. This dark-haired girl was so tiny, and _weak_-looking. At least Haruno Sakura had a bit of charisma.

A finger-thrust sunk into Hirosuke's forearm. A brief sensation of pain went through the limb, followed by a numbness. He backed away. The Taki-nin folded his hands, and began to make a sequence. 'That's it. I'll just kill her quickly, since she's a witness.'

Hirosuke then felt something abnormal: no chakra was going through his right arm. Strange, how he could still move it. This Konoha-nin before him must have struck a tenketsu, a point of the chakra arteries.

Hirosuke glared at the dark-haired girl. "Those eyes. You're a Hyuuga."

The veins grew prominent around Hinata. Did she really need to answer that question?

In truth, the girl trembled inside. Her attire did not exactly scream out combat-mode. She was in nothing but a blue tank top with a tight, lavender floral-patterned T-shirt over it, and purple knee-length training pants. The dark-haired girl also had forgotten to strap on her shuriken-holster and pouch of ninja tools when she rushed out of the house to get here.

And she absolutely hated combat. Still. Hinata especially didn't like the pain which Jyuuken caused. She couldn't bear the thought of blasting destructive ki into someone else's vital organs. 'Why am I picking a fight with him?' Hinata thought frantically. 'Those genin are probably already dead —I have a youkai to catch...'

A snicker escaped Hirosuke. "Your ankles are shaking," he told Hinata. The Taki-nin extended his left arm. "And even if I can't use hand-seals, I still can produce chakra-related jutsu using my other hand. Like this, for example." Hirosuke reached over his shoulder blades.

Hinata's white eyes squinted. It seemed like something was materializing behind her opponent's back —

Hirosuke's form blurred.

Hinata gasped as a blade whisked past her chest. With a few ill-managed tumbles and rolls, the heiress managed to dodge each swing. The Taki-nin was too fast. Even her Byakugan couldn't tell what kind of weapon he was using; its form blurred, and he thrust in unexpected places.

'I've got to do this!' Hinata's form quickly went down, and performed a spinning low kick. Hirosuke moved away to evade the kick, but Hinata reached over to his leg and thrust another tenketsu.

A grunt of pain escaped Hirosuke, followed by a snarl.

Before she knew it, a line of blood showed up on Hinata's cheek. The Taki-nin nailed a kick on Hinata's hip, sending her skidding on the dusty ground. It amazed her that Hirosuke could keep up his faked jounin appearance after her blows.

A black-and-orange form appeared beneath Hirosuke, and sent up a clean rising punch.

"Back off!" Naruto stood defensively in front of Hinata. He sure as hell could not decipher the opponent's real face, but any idiot could see that it was an abnormal disguise. A normal Henge no Jutsu wouldn't crumble like a statue of sandstone.

'Not the same annoying blond...' It was time to retreat, Hirosuke decided. His facial disguise was falling apart, literally. Besides, he already collected three souls — who all happened to be Konoha finalists in the Chuunin Exams. 'Even if Haruno Sakura didn't come today, she can't escape anymore,' he thought to himself. 'She _has_ to fight. The very reputation of her village will rest on her...'

Hirosuke jumped up on a boulder, and leered down at Hinata and Naruto with his half-torn face. "Sorry, but I guess the _real_ Priestess didn't come in time." Hinata's bright eyes widened in confusion. "Although, I do admit that you're cute as a helper," the Taki-nin added in the kunoichi's direction. "Bye now."

He disappeared in a chakra-powered dash.

Naruto started after him, but then remembered Hinata's wound.

The blond knelt down to her. "It's okay, Hinata. You did well." Naruto touched her wound with a gauze pad, just one item from the mini-medical kit Hinata had prepared for him. He then noticed the lack of vitality in her pupil-less eyes. "Hinata-chan. What's wrong?"

A trickle of blood rolled down Hinata's neck. "I'm not the real Priestess?"

* * *

Sasuke ran like the wind. That last moment with Sakura was vivid in his mind, even now. He put a hand over his mouth. That had to be the most inappropriate thing he had ever done. No social value whatsoever. Even Sasuke's disgusting alliance with Orochimaru had proven to be of some practical consequence — he at least got some training, and a summoning contract with the anacondas!

This was totally a different case from that. The Uchiha had acted in public as if he adored the pink-haired genin, even coddling her as wife-material. And that last gesture, right before departing, was probably the worst. It could very well endanger their friendship.

Well, maybe Sakura would think that he was only trying to mellow down the rumors by acting out as a boyfriend or fiancé (actually, that would not be a bad outcome, now that he thought about it). But what if she were unforgiving about this one? Sasuke had done a lot of stupid things in the past, and it seemed like a few more incidents would be tacked up on the list.

Towering bluffs entered the vast scenery. The cliff had received multiple titles over the centuries, but Sasuke remembered that more than one name of it had references to suicide.

Sasuke cleared his mind of the troublesome worries. He had a job to do, even though he wasn't getting paid for it. He held up the omamori to recheck his direction. When he spotted the place with a good eye-distance, he stuffed the item into his fishnet undershirt and pumped chakra into his legs for speed.

After a while, Sasuke took out the omamori. It was back to normal. 'Shit,' Sasuke thought. 'The action already passed.'

"Sasuke!" Naruto waved to the raven-haired chuunin. Sasuke noticed several medical ninja lifting bodies up from the ravine.

Sasuke walked up to Naruto, and surveyed the scene. His red eyes squinted at the rocks. "Five meters down, there are four points of leftover chakra." He frowned. "As if they were spikes for a net..."

Naruto glanced behind. "I know. There were small whiffs of youki — youkai power — when I checked, but they didn't go deeper than ten meters. The genin hit at twelve meters. Well, better than take the whole sixty downward."

Sasuke watched the bodies of the genin lifted away. "The victims look familiar..."

Naruto blinked. "Weren't they Konoha's finalists for the Chuunin Exams?"

* * *

Sasuke had no idea how the month passed so quickly by. ANBU-training exhausted him during the day, and at night he had to memorize scrolls upon scrolls about new jutsu and strategies.

At least Sakura's choice of foods seemed to keep him more alert. Maybe it was the vitamins or other things that the medic-nin was informed of. Or perhaps it helped a little to have some exotic foods as a break. It at least was enjoyable that Sakura came over to help him cook dinner every week (in exchange for a bit of training on summoning).

Yet as Sasuke read all those ANBU scrolls, night after night, he grew all the more paranoid for Sakura's appearance in the final tournament. It didn't take him long to figure out that someone was trying to make Konoha look bad by targeting the Hokage's apprentice. Why else would they disguise themselves and push the rest of the Konoha finalists down a cliff? Killing Sakura in front of a large audience would be a direct blow to Tsunade, and Konoha. It was simply power politics. The other villages felt threatened by the Leaf's comeback after that war with the Sound, and that posed a shift of loyalty among clientele. If Sakura were the lone Konoha-nin in a public event like this...

It was already the morning of the tournament.

Sasuke stood in the streets, dark circles hanging around his eyes. Even in his tired state, he could make an excellent human wall, as he demonstrated to Sakura when she opened her front door to leave. He held up an offering.

Sakura looked at the roll of paper which Sasuke had forced into her hand.

"A jutsu scroll?" she asked.

"I instilled my Goukakyuu in it," Sasuke explained. "To use it, first hold it — either in your hands, or between your teeth." He pointed to the flap of the scroll, where a wax seal had been stamped on. "Touch it with chakra to break the seal, put your hands in the Tiger-In, and wait. I tested them to make sure you won't get burned."

Sakura looked doubtful. "I don't know if this'll work..."

She then noticed what the wax-seal was shaped in: the emblem of the Uchiha clan.

Sakura held it close to her, and smiled upward to Sasuke. "I'll take it with me. Thank you."

"It only works _once_," the raven-haired teenager warned. "It took me two weeks to make sure—"

The kunoichi reached up and embraced Sasuke. It startled the chuunin a bit, but he did not flinch or back away. He took in the scent of her pink hair before she quickly withdrew.

The medic-nin dashed off towards the stadium. Sakura felt better already.

* * *

As he sat in his place at the stadium, Sasuke was not crabby and irritable. That had been last night. Now he was drenched in cold sweat, although he could hide it pretty well with some anti-perspirant, layered clothing, and a stoic face.

Naruto pumped his fist in the air. "Now Sasuke, remember that for cheering to be effective, the cheer-ee must either see or hear the cheer-er." He looked around at the mass of people. "Do it carefully at precise times, especially in a stadium like this."

"I'm not going to _cheer_." The last person Sasuke ever had cheered on seriously was — well, Itachi. And everybody knew how well _that_ had turned out. However, Sasuke did give Sakura an item he hoped would prove useful in case of an emergency on the battlefield.

Sasuke folded his arms across his chest, and glanced down at 'The Pit', as the arena was dubbed. He then studied the seating arrangement. The daimyo and their associates were crammed into their private box, heavily guarded. Merchants, commoners, and ninja mingled in the regular seating. Of course, the heads of powerful clans had a habit of bunching their family-members together, resulting in glaring matches that made unrelated people annoyed and nervous. One random Hyuuga seemed to be challenging Sasuke, but he coolly ignored it.

Oh, and of course there was the Godaime. Tsunade was decked out in the traditional Hokage robe and hat, and sat in her private box. Next to her was an empty seat, which awaited the Kazekage.

Naruto folded his hands, and rested them behind his head. "Where did Hinata-chan run off to?" he groaned.

Hanabi sat on the other side of Hinata's reserved spot. She looked at Naruto from the corner of her eye, which was easy to do with the Byakugan. Four years ago, this blond shinobi had made an amazing comeback against Neji in a duel. He even recovered from the Hakke Rokujuuyonshou. Now he was moaning for his girlfriend, about as pitiful and useless as a wounded puppy.

Hanabi boiled. THIS was what her older sister fell for. 'What does she _see_ in him?' the little girl mentally asked. 'He's an idiot, no matter which way you look at him!'

Naruto had noticed the feeling of murder. He looked at Hanabi. Although her face was blank, he recognized jealousy when he saw it. "Hey, Hanabi!" he cheerfully said. "I heard from Hinata-chan that your training's going great!"

Hanabi suppressed the urge to smile from his compliment. "Don't address me so casually."

"What, you want me to call you Hanabi-chan?" Naruto asked. He then offered the other extreme: "Or Hanabi-SAMA—"

"Hanabi's fine," the girl said quickly. She mentally shuddered at the thought of Naruto treating her like cold royalty, while he did horribly affectionate things to her sister behind closed doors.

Naruto shrugged with a goofy grin. He knew it would take time for Hanabi to understand. He had to prove himself as a gentleman, both to Hinata and her entire family. It would be insanely difficult showing it to the rigid clan (especially since the Kyuubi and the defacing of the Hokage monument lurked in his shadow), but a determined fire blazed in his eyes at the thought.

Sasuke noticed that Naruto was experiencing a sudden level of ambitious optimism mixed with lovey-dovey thoughts. It sickened him.

Naruto suddenly stood up, and ran down to the railing. He waved towards the Hokage's box.

"HEEEEEEY! GAARA!" Naruto shouted.

Gaara of the Desert put up a hand of acknowledgement to Naruto. Without any more gestures, he sat down stoically like a king upon his throne.

Naruto laughed. The surrounding ninja stared at Naruto's boldness in greeting the blood-thirsty insomniac. "He's acting just like you, Sasuke," he whispered to his rival. "Like he has a stick up his ass."

"Very funny," Sasuke grunted. "The Hokage is already starting off the opening ceremony, Dolt." Sasuke closed his eyes as Tsunade did her formal greetings to the audience. 'An Uchiha keeps his calm, no matter what the situation,' he chanted in his brain. 'If anything bad threatens Sakura, there's the referee. A dependable jounin-specialist.'

The ten finalists walked out onto the stadium.

Tsunade coughed. She leaned towards a bodyguard. "Where is the referee?"

One minute passed by. The spectators began to talk amidst themselves.

A second minute passed by. Gaara shifted in his cloak. The bodyguards jumped nervously. They evidently had heard stories of the Shukaku, and thought a demon would burst out of the red-haired foreigner any moment.

A third minute passed by. Naruto glanced at Hinata's still-vacant seat.

On the tick of the fourth minute, a breeze full of red- and orange-colored leaves floated above the stadium. They twirled and danced through the air, forming into a jet — and crash-landed in front of the genin finalists. A silver-haired man appeared in the midst of leaves.

"Hatake Kakashi, reporting for duty," he said in an amazingly clear voice. Kakashi saluted the Hokage. "Genma handed the job over to me, so..."

The Hokage pointed a damning finger at the jounin, as did a pink-haired genin down in the arena, and a blond fox-boy in the stands. They all looked royally pissed. "YOU'RE LATE!"

Kakashi gave a sheepish laugh. "Sorry, sorry. Anyways, let's go on with the first match, why don't we?"

Sasuke sighed. All right; he was immensely relieved that Kakashi was playing the referee. He would be fair towards everybody, yet he would surely know the limit if anything unreasonable came up. Sakura was safe. On the other hand —

"At my own MATCH, no less!" Sakura's unholy voice shouted.

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	20. Cat and Mouse

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

My finals were done well! Yeay!

Oh, and a note about Sakura's "abilities": she CANNOT call upon Tennyo so that it warps in front of her. Only Minoru is able to do that.

And Nocterayne, I forgot to say this last chapter, but I'm glad you're back. Don't worry about the technical error; you more than made up for it in your long review.

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 20: Cat and Mouse

* * *

Sakura held her breath. This was it.

Because there were ten genin finalists now, there were several genin who had to fight four matches, instead of three, if they wanted to make it as the champion. Sakura was one of them.

Kakashi raised his hand. "Haruno Sakura versus Tanimoto Akira." He swung it down. "Go!"

Sakura winced as she felt a flying kunai cut her shoulder. 'Hold steady... Hold steady...'

Her eye caught an exploding tag attached to a kunai, and tilted her head to the side. The feint scent of carbon reached her nose. Sakura quickly pulled out the sizzling kibaku-fuda out of her pink hair — her gloved hands crushed the paper before it could explode. She looked up. The kunoichi guarded herself as shuriken rained down upon her.

Kakashi's brow wrinkled. Sakura was not offering resistance of any sort to her opponent from Iwagakure, the Hidden Stone. What in the world was her strategy? Perhaps she was waiting for him to burn out, but that would drain her for the coming matches, all in the same day.

Sakura pulled out the shuriken from her arm and hand. Akira was still a novice — only two out of perhaps thirty of the thrown weapons actually had hit her — but the points of contact seemed to be deeper and more painful than regular shuriken. The kunoichi glanced at her arm. Her green eyes stilled upon the wounds: the skin around them began to turn an unusual hue.

The Iwa-nin smirked. "Paralysis liquid, effective within the minute," Akira said. "If you give up now, I'll give you the antidote."

Sakura straightened herself. "I don't need an antidote."

The Iwa-nin blinked at this comment.

Two lumps of a sky-blue color glistened on Sakura's form, specifically at the injury sites. The slugs moved gently, sucking out the toxin and spitting them out to the side in beads.

Sakura quietly let the slugs do their work. "My calling animals," the medic-nin said. "What's even better is that they themselves aren't endangered with this trick, because they can form a mucus barrier around the foreign substance as they suck it out. The coating hardens with difference chemicals, and seals up the toxin like a bag."

Sakura noticed a hardened drop sticking to her green shirt. She picked it up with the tip of her gloved hand: the slug's coating on it shone like a pearl, effectively covering up the noxious substance sealed within. The kunoichi flicked it into a case, and tucked it away. Tsunade's antidote-supply had to be regularly updated, as new poisons and substances were invented almost daily.

Akira bit his lip. It seemed like his normal plan of action would not do. Poison was his specialty — he had no idea that the Leaf began training its medical ninja already as genin. Haruno Sakura was probably the worst match-up for him.

"Impressive," Akira muttered. "I didn't expect such a quick and calm response towards poisoning." The Iwa-nin shifted his legs, in the traditional stance of his own village. "However, that isn't the only thing."

Sakura concentrated as the ninja sprinted towards her. An attempt at taijutsu.

'There.' The pink-haired kunoichi whirled around, thrashing out an arm. She caught the real Akira, and pulled him into a headlock. Too easy. Sakura knew a bunshin when she saw one.

The Iwa-nin within her grasp smiled. "You don't pay attention, do you?"

Sakura turned around, examining the incoming bunshin for a second time. She paused: the doppleganger was making real tracks in the ground as it ran.

Kage-bunshin? No way. This was —

Sakura's eyes widened. The Hidden Stone Village. That bunshin was actually a rampaging piece of rock going after her!

Kakashi tensed, readying himself for the impact. 'Come on, Sakura...'

The sound of cracking ceramic pierced the air.

Sakura's gloved fist slugged through the stoneware.

Akira's psyche frosted over. Over the last month, he had worked so hard to construct that doppleganger and control... and this girl's arm completely struck through the chest of the statue, pretty much shattering it. With that kind of strength, and with the fact that his neck was within Sakura's grasp...

Kakashi shook his head. The match was pretty much decided. Which was good, because his fingers were itching for the orange book with the red censorship symbol in his back pocket.

Sakura sighed. Even if she could guess how to break her opponent's neck based on her knowledge of the vertebrae, she had not the heart. Instead, she tightened her hold around the genin's throat.

Kakashi groaned. In his opinion, Sakura could have at least knocked out the Iwa-nin while she was so close to him. He wondered whether she intended to lengthen the duration of this match.

With the painfully acute desire for oxygen, Akira's swinging arm aimed to stab Sakura with a kunai. She evaded it, and skipped carefully out of his reach.

The Iwa-nin gasped, taking in wonderful air once more. His hand rubbed the bruised area where Sakura strangled him. Akira observed his opponent: he cut her up a little, but her face was cool as a cucumber. Sakura's wounds, although cleaned of poison, still glistened with slug-mucus. The muscles of her left arm seemed tense after that stone-crushing blow.

Sakura spread out her arms. "Well?" she asked. "Aren't you going to come after me?"

"I already am," the Iwa-nin said. His hands performed a sequence, and he pushed chakra into the last seal. "Doton!" he shouted. "Chisou—"

Sakura appeared before Akira, and kneed his stomach before he could finish the recitation. A look of intense pain crossed the ninja.

"You're not it," Sakura muttered. She slugged him square in the forehead. He went flying, and then skidded to a halt.

Akira was still.

The pink-haired genin stared. She examined her fist, loosened it, and shook it to check whether there was injury. "I didn't hit him _that_ hard..."

Kakashi walked over to the unconscious Akira. He put a hand on the Iwa-nin's face.

The silver-haired jounin raised a hand. "Winner: Haruno Sakura."

An applause slowly grew. Several cheers erupted. Sakura breathed, and began to walk back.

Kakashi turned to his former student. "Sakura, why do you hesitate?"

Sakura tensed. 'He knows!'

Kakashi pointed up to the stands. "You'll only disappoint your fans."

Sakura seemed relieved for an instant, but a look of confusion drowned it out. _Fans?_

She looked in the direction Kakashi pointed at. A small group of about fifteen people sat there. And not just any teenagers, from what Sakura could tell.

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

"We love you!"

"I'LL MAKE OUT WITH YOU IF YOU WIN!"

As far as Sakura could tell, they were screaming their heads off. A few held up signs of encouragement for her, often with fruity remarks.

"Fan...GIRLS?" Sakura sputtered. Sakura felt a bit weak. A lesbian fanclub. She saw a green spot in front of them. "LEE?"

The beautiful green beast of Konoha waved to Sakura. "Sakura-san!" Lee's voice echoed. "As to get you the attention you deserve, I went and gathered those of your type!"

As it turned out, Lee had not been avoiding Sakura this past month. Well, maybe for the first couple of days he had been in shock — but unlike a certain angst-full avenger, Lee decided to get over Sakura. It took great effort, but Lee was up for any challenge. In fact, the passionate martial artist went so far as to busy himself with collecting a set of potential... partners for her. No wonder Lee had locked himself up in his room with telephone calls and kept Sakura out; he wanted to keep the fanclub a surprise.

Gai cried himself a river behind Lee. "My pupil, you're such a good sport about all of this! You've become a _fine_ man!" He clasped Lee in a bone-crushing hug. "Lee!"

The younger student returned the embrace. "Gai-sensei!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

Sakura was totally speechless. Well, she had to admit one positive thing about it. Lee's endeavor was sweet... in a very idiosyncratic way.

"You have many girlfriends, Sakura," Kakashi commented.

Sakura put a hand on her forehead. "I have many headaches."

Honestly, the kunoichi wondered how long this lie would hold up. And all because Minoru had kissed her...

* * *

The shrills and shouts of the fangirls echoed in Sasuke's ears.

An eyebrow of the raven-haired ninja gave the slightest twitch. Why did the lesbian coalition have to sit a few sections from where he was seated?

Naruto looked sympathetically at Sasuke. "Well, you can always look on the bright side, Sasuke. At least Sakura can find someone."

The Uchiha wasn't so sure about that. From personal experience, rarely did a sincere person come from fanclubs. Idolatry was more transient than friendship or love. He was beginning to worry: what if she were hurt by some random woman?

"Hey, Sasuke! Are you listening to me?" Naruto demanded.

Sasuke blinked, and looked to the side. "What?" he asked, almost in the exact tone Kakashi used towards Gai when he was half-listening.

The blond fox-boy sighed. "Never mind." He looked at the empty seat beside him. Hinata was still absent.

"You'd better not let the rest of the Hyuuga clan know," Sasuke whispered to Naruto. "They're right next to us, and if she's missing..."

Naruto tilted his head upwards, studying the canopy. He didn't think Hinata was in any danger, especially with all the high security around this event. Still, it was kind of discomforting that she would not show up. She had agreed to watch it with him, as long as Hanabi could come along...

"There's something wrong with Sakura, though," Naruto suddenly said.

Sasuke looked at him with a scrutinizing eye. "If you insult her becau—"

"No, I don't mean like that!" Naruto argued. "I'm talking about her combat style!"

Sasuke paused. Now that he thought about it, it was rather odd how Sakura did not land any true hits except for self-defense, and the finishing blows. There was a lot of beating upon her in the beginning which Sakura could have easily avoided. Only now and then did she lash out; she actually seemed a little disappointed with the final punch.

"She mainly used taijutsu," Sasuke observed. "Of course, she learned that from the Godaime. But had she used genjutsu first, she would have been safer. She's better than the two of us in that area."

"You might have surpassed her in genjutsu," Naruto interrupted. "With your mastered eyes..."

"That doesn't count," Sasuke argued. He cupped his chin as he watched Sakura: she was examining her unconscious opponent, much to the chagrin of Konoha residents. "But the issue here is that the only magic she used was the calling technique."

"That guy was pretty weak, though," Naruto said. "She only summoned what was necessary. I wouldn't have noticed the slugs if you hadn't predicted their appearance with the Sharingan." He watched Sakura pat at the unconscious genin's face. Akira jolted upward — Sakura blocked his fist, and Kakashi pushed him down with the tap of a finger. "Jeez, she's a medic-nin through and through," mumbled Naruto. "Can be tough, yet also hospitable."

Sasuke overheard some whispers from the Hyuuga crowd. "Boring fight," one Branch member said with a sigh. "I had expected more excitement from a lesbian..."

Five seconds later, the man found himself face-to-face with a serious Uchiha, red eyes and all.

Sasuke ignored the tense looks coming from the other Hyuuga members. "Listen here," the young man said in a deadly whisper, a tight grip on the Hyuuga's collar, "Sakura is not some exotic item you can oogle at. If you want to keep up the honor of the Hyuuga, as well as remain _alive_, then you will treat her respectfully. Understood?"

The man nodded quietly. Sasuke dropped the Hyuuga, and walked away.

Naruto and Hanabi stared as Sasuke fell back into his seat. The raven-haired boy shot them an annoyed look. "What?"

A low chuckle came from Naruto. "Wow. I had no idea that you like Sakura-chan _that_ much, Sasuke."

"She's a _friend_." Sasuke felt the heat rising in his face. Gods, this was humiliating, even though he believed he did the right thing when threatening that guy. Naruto was doing nothing to alleviate Sasuke's discomfort.

"I mean, that's sort of unselfish of you, that you keep defending her honor, despite zero chance of you having her," Naruto continued. "Almost like one of those tragic heroes in those plays, where the peasant guy is so distant from the princess. You actually seem to understand what it is to be in lo—"

Naruto was hit square in the face by Sasuke's fist.

The small Hanabi trembled at the dark aura Sasuke gave off. The rumors were true of his monstrosity; it was a good thing that Naruto kept lightening up his atmosphere now and then.

The blond clutched his face. "What the hell was that for, Bastard!" Naruto shouted.

"You're making a scene, Idiot," Sasuke said coolly.

"You started it!"

"You provoked me."

"Just because I said the truth," Naruto argued. He ducked, predicting another swing. To his surprise, nothing came.

Sasuke was silent, as if too tired to argue. His dark bangs hid his eyes.

Naruto stared. This wasn't a good sign.

* * *

Hinata carefully made her way through the narrow passageway. The ventilation system was complex, but at least she knew where she was going, thanks to the Byakugan. She also felt an intense, powerful item within the vicinity. With her vision, her eyes fell upon the locker-room of the genin finalists.

With some shuffling and turns around corners (she felt like a mouse), Hinata made her way through the maze of metal channels, and to the room of the genin finalists. Fighting the claustrophobic fantasies that she might get stuck within these narrow passages... or be unwittingly crushed when the construction crew would dismantle this temporary stadium... or just simply be forgotten and left there to rot and die, Hinata found the room. There were several lockers. From her spot in the air duct, she let her Sight zoom in, and spotted a glow from one section.

A small, circular item spewed out chakra. A black, hardwood case enclosed the object. Locker number 14.

Zashiki Warashi and the spirit of the Forest of Death were right: the Hardened Soul was in the possession of one finalist. And now that the first round was commencing, Hinata thought with relief, she could just go in and pick up the Hardened Soul without fighting anyone! Yes, it was robbery, in a certain sense, but it was better than confronting someone and risk any injuries to some unwitting genin.

The little heiress examined the ribbed closure, figuring how to open it. She jiggled the screws to see if they were loose. Stiff as a rock. Then she picked at it with a kunai. No effect. She finally tried bursting the vent out with chakra. Useless.

Hinata let out a sorrowful moan. The goal was right there in front of her eyes, and she couldn't even open the air-vent? She pushed, then shoved, on the metal plate forcefully — it gave way.

Haruno Sakura strode into the locker room.

'Oh, no!' Hinata thought. In her desperation of opening the vent, she had not concentrated on who was entering the room.

Sakura gasped as she saw a girl tumble out of the air-vent. The person was very graceful in landing, but such a stunt from the ventilation system was out of the ordinary, even for a ninja.

Sakura recognized her. "Hinata-san?"

The dark-haired girl coughed. She looked up sheepishly to Sakura. "Um, Sakura-san, I, uh..."

Sakura walked to her locker, perfectly calm, and pushed in the key. She apparently was not uncomfortable with Hinata around. "Let me guess. You're part of security. Hyuuga are always good at monitoring." She grinned at Hinata. "Although, I don't think you should travel through the ventilation system; you could pick up dirt and dust."

Hinata gave a nervous smile. "Um, actually..."

Voices were coming from the hallway door. Hinata squeaked in panic.

Sakura opened the door of her locker, shoved Hinata in, and closed it. This made the Hyuuga even more frightened, until she heard a hissed message through the air vent. "Hide here!"

"Oh, okay..." the shaking girl whispered.

Within the locker, Hinata could feel the atmosphere of the room thicken. 'Of course, Sakura-san is the only genin finalist from Konohagakure...' Hinata closed her eyes, and let a stream of chakra flow into them. 'Byakugan!' Sakura sat on the bench, pretending to examine her wounds, while three genin stepped into the room. It was the team from the Hidden Waterfall.

Hinata muffled a frightened gasp as she recognized Hirosuke. He was a pervert, and a murderer; he killed those genin... 'Sakura-san, watch out!'

Sakura hardly batted an eye as the three Taki-nin walked past her. Yet goose bumps prickled her skin: the slightest shift in ki was there. These ninja held power completely different from Hinata's pure energy.

The pink-haired kunoichi casually sipped from her water bottle, her eyes closed with serenity. Hirosuke studied her frame with his black eyes. He held back, however, as Chie and a wounded Koujirou shot him warning looks. Hirosuke walked over to his own locker, grumbling.

Sakura blinked. Koujirou was bleeding from his head. She began to reach for her medical kit, but paused when Chie was already attending the boy.

Koujirou winced. "Ouch!" The wound on the side of his head stung as Chie's disinfectant cleaned it. Koujirou, like Sakura, had gotten an extra match from the drawing of straws, but he was not as fortunate. He had been instantaneously defeated by one from the Hidden Sand. Luckily he survived.

Through the door of Sakura's locker, Hinata studied what Hirosuke reached for in his locker. His hand neared the pulsing energy source. 'Oh no,' Hinata thought. 'Oh please, if it's he who has it, then don't let him take it out...'

Hirosuke lifted up the inrou with the spherical jewel inside, and tied it to his waist. The Taki-nin slammed his locker shut.

Hinata wanted to cry within Sakura's locker. Of all people, it had to be Hirosuke who possessed the Hardened Soul. And now it was securely in his shirt! It seemed like he was aware of its qualities. 'How am I supposed to get it now?'

Hirosuke walked over to Sakura, and crept up from behind. He leaned over her shoulder. The pink-haired girl wrinkled her nose; he stank.

"If you beat Chie, then I get to play with you," Hirosuke whispered. He walked off, leaving a tight-lipped Sakura.

Chie turned to the pink-haired girl. "Ignore him," Chie told Sakura. "I'll meet you in the arena, Haruno-san."

"Of course," Sakura murmured.

Chie allowed Koujirou to clean out his locker, and escort her out of the room. Koujirou shot Sakura a nervous glance before he closed the door behind him. Sakura was partially relieved: for a moment there, she had actually thought that the Waterfall team would ambush her in the locker room. They seemed to want a public fight, as it turned out.

Sakura's thoughts were interrupted with a slight tapping. She suddenly remembered Hinata — the kunoichi immediately pulled open her locker. "Sorry, Hinata-san!"

"You don't have to apologize," the dark-haired girl said quietly. "Thank you for hiding me..."

"Anything for security," Sakura answered. The medic-nin turned around, but then felt a tug on her short green sleeve.

Hinata held Sakura by the hem of her shirt. "Sakura-san, be careful of that Hirosuke," she said. "He... he killed those other Konoha finalists."

"What?" Sakura's green eyes stared at Hinata's grave expression. "Why didn't you tell this to the authorities before?"

"I didn't know until now," Hinata quietly said. "I only thought he was an enemy ninja sabotaging the entrants when I caught him in the act. He was so good that I didn't think that he'd be a genin! But it's definitely him."

Sakura gave an irritated huff. "Hinata, you should be more assertive about this kind of thing..."

"Please be careful!" the dark-haired girl burst out. "If you go up against him in the tournament, surrender if you need to — I would be dead by him if Naruto-kun didn't rescue me. And under NO circumstances should you go into a closed room with him!"

Sakura stilled at these words. She opened her mouth to ask more questions, but she realized that the dark-haired girl was shaking. Was Hinata implying what she thought?

Sakura strode out, pounding a fist into her palm. From Day One, the medic-nin had been suspicious of that guy Hirosuke. His aura was corrupt. He gave her the creeps, especially when Tsunade called the genin finalists together in the Tower. What kind of guy would stare lustfully at a female stranger who was beat and torn up after five days of fighting? That was just... sick. And to attack those Konoha-nin, and even Hinata: 'The nerve!'

Sakura turned to Hinata. "I won't tell a soul that you're here, Hinata-san," she said gently. "There's a guard-free shortcut around the water fountain to the right hallway. Bye!" Her pink ponytail danced as she ran off.

Hinata watched quietly. A gentle smile graced her lips.

'Maybe Sakura-san really is the Priestess of Souls.' Hinata thought to herself. 'She's so confident, and pretty, and amazing... She'd be perfect for the job.'

The Hyuuga heiress carefully walked the hallway.

"Hinata-neechan," a voice chirped.

Hinata turned on her Sight, and lifted her eyes up to the ceiling. Zashiki Warashi waved to her.

"Hi, Warashi-chan." The ghost floated over her shoulder. "Warashi... The books say that there have been other Priestesses." She breathed, and continued: "Is it possible that their title can be taken away, without them dying?"

The transparent deity lifted a hand to his chin. "Yes, the power of the Priestess can be taken away, if she is found unworthy," Warashi said. The ghost-boy floated above, unseen by anybody except Hinata. "Actually I should tell you this: you were the second one chosen for this youkai disturbance."

"Second one?" Hinata stared. "I was... a replacement?"

"No, that's not it," Warashi said. "You see, I spotted you long ago, and identified you as my first choice. But I wasn't authorized as the guardian for such an important position — in fact, another spirit had already taken up the role for choosing the Priestess of Souls. The only thing is..." Warashi sighed, "something happened. For some reason, the guardian ghost left the Priestess, and she was stripped of her title. Then I was appointed, and I went to you."

"What happened to the girl?" Hinata asked, concerned. "The spirits didn't kill her, did they?"

"No. She's probably a normal girl again, back to the state she was before she became the Priestess of Souls," Warashi answered. "Why the ghost left her is a mystery, but the position of a guardian was handed to me. _I_ was the replacement, Hinata-neechan. Not you."

Hinata smiled at Warashi. "I'm sorry for doubting you, Warashi-chan."

Warashi held up a hand. "However, we are under pressure to get the Hardened Soul. If there's no progress... The spirits might force me off you. I'd get transferred to another place. I am Zashiki Warashi, after all; my duties before were to watch over children."

Hinata thought it over.

"Maybe..." she breathed, "it would be better that way."

Warashi stilled. "What are you saying, Hinata-neechan?"

"It's just... I think there are better people than me for this position." Hinata studied her rough hands. "I told you before, Warashi-chan: I'm born into a ninja clan. Even there, I have much to improve on. And now I'm dragging Naruto-kun and Uchiha-san into this whole mess..."

Warashi looked hurt. "You... don't like me?"

Hinata's white eyes shot open. She turned to Warashi. "Warashi-chan, you're like a little brother to me — of course I like you!" She reached a hand towards him. "I love you very much."

The ghost-child wafted away from the girl. "Hinata-neechan, please find the Hardened Soul." Something of disappointment leaked out of his voice. "If you don't want the pressure of the title, then okay. But realize that just like ninja with missions, there will be _other_ people who will have to fight off the youkai."

Warashi flew out of the room.

Hinata looked down, tears welling in her eyes. 'I'm sorry, Warashi-chan... I'll do my best. But I can't promise you anything...'

* * *

A cold glare came from Chie. Sakura avoided looking at the girl's eyes: she had seen enough glares to fill a lifetime.

Kakashi raised his hand. "Haruno Sakura versus Morikawa Chie. Ready—" His hand swung down. "go."

Sakura saw Chie throw several shuriken at her. She carefully dodged three. One ripped the left leg of her black pants, but it was clean and safe.

The kunoichi with black hair frowned. 'Damn you, Priestess of Souls! Don't play around with me!'

Sakura gave Chie a knowing smirk. "Is that your best aim?"

Chie's blue eyes shot open in rage. "You..." She set several shuriken within her fingers, and set them off towards Sakura.

The pink-haired ninja performed several hand seals.

Chie saw Sakura's body dissolve away in a mass of pink petals. Her shuriken passed through.

The dark-haired kunoichi scoffed. 'Obviously a genjutsu.' Chie's hands clapped into a seal. Her mind cleared. The pink petals expelled from her vision, and Sakura appeared to her left. She threw a kunai.

Sakura cursed as she dodged the weapon. She had expected that Chie might know a counter-jutsu for the illusion. Yet what annoyed Sakura was that her pink hair was getting in the way of her vision. 'I should have cut it shorter,' the medic-nin thought, her fingers working quickly to shove the ponytail into something vaguely similar to a bun. 'I'd better go back to simple taijutsu!'

Chie saw her opponent above her in the air. Chie unwound her rosary quickly, and made a series of hand-seals. A satisfied smile crossed her features. "I got you now."

Sakura felt a strange aura burst from Chie. Had that rosary acted as a sealant for chakra?

Chie swung up the glowing rosary, and slammed it on the ground.

'Fujutsu: Zenshin Zenrei Teishi.' (Shaman Technique: Whole Self, Whole Soul Suspension)

The rosary glued itself into the earth, and sunk in. Energy pulsed from the girl's arm as she held the item steady — her blue eyes looked up, waiting for the jutsu to take effect on Sakura.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes. He had never seen a jutsu like this before.

The silver-haired jounin stepped back. An object like a spear went past Kakashi's nose. 'WHAT?'

Six ropes of beads burst out of the arena's surrounding wall, aiming for Sakura. The pink-haired kunoichi could not evade them, as she was in the air. "What the— argh!" One latched on her shoulder, another around her waist. Each ankle and wrist was bound.

"Sakura!" Naruto shouted from the stands. Sasuke grit his teeth.

Sakura, hanging in the mass of beads, lashed out against the over-grown rosary. The chain clicked with her efforts. The weight of her body pulled down on her wrists and ankles.

Just when she was about to scream, the sound of beads hitting each other soothed Sakura's senses, like chimes. 'Just like a real rosary...'

Sakura realized that a numbing effect was coming over her. Her green eyes shot open. 'A genjutsu?'

Her wrists could not come together due to the ropes, but at least her fingers could still move. Sakura made half of a Tiger-In in both hands. "KAI!"

The pain of gravity once again shot through her pulled limbs. Although the clicking of rosary beads had indeed been a form of hypnotism, just like how they were used in meditation, the enormous strands around her were not an illusion. Sakura _was_ hanging upside down in the air, held up by cold, black ropes. And did it hurt like hell where the hard beads tied her.

"What the hell is this?" Sakura shouted to Chie. The medic-nin felt the blood rushing to her head. "Oh, shit..." In training, Sakura had stood on her head to train herself in balance, so wouldn't pass out hanging upside down — yet. With enough time, anybody would fall unconscious.

Chie walked over to Sakura's hanging form. "This technique is an ancient spiritual bind, used by priestesses onto other spiritually-advanced people."

Sakura's green eyes widened in alarm.

Part of the rosary was still around Chie's wrist. From there, she pulled and controlled the six ropes. "A few of the shaman-class sometimes abused their powers, you see, so some balance had to be in order to not anger the spirits."

Sakura held back a scream as the beads tightened around her. The ki in her stomach churned. 'I have to think of something...'

A triumphant gleam flashed in Chie's blue eyes. "How does it feel, Priestess of Souls, to have your strength taken away?"

Sakura's jaw tightened. "What are you... talking... about?"

"Don't play the innocent one. I know what you are!" Chie nearly cried out. "You stole that strength from _me_!"

* * *

Notes:

"fujutsu" - 'shamanism' or 'witchcraft'.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	21. Souls of Glass

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, whose creator is Masashi Kishimoto. I do not own _The Raven_, the writer thereof is Edgar Allen Poe. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 21: Souls of Glass

* * *

Sakura took a deep breath, and held it. Her hand brushed one large rosary bead.

For a moment, the pupils of Sakura's eyes diluted.

The bead shattered between her fingers. The glass-like pieces flew apart in a blue light, breaking Sakura free from one rope.

A sharp intake of breath sounded from Chie. Her blue eyes were wide open with shock. "That's... impossible!" she whispered. "You can't _break_ a soul!"

Chie's voice snapped Sakura out of her nightmare. Her green eyes locked onto Chie.

Sakura's freed hand slapped onto the beads around her tied-up ankles, and jiggled the chains around. With some intricate footwork and visualization of the knot, she twisted her feet in the correct direction. The rosary slid off like silk.

"Argh!" Sakura was still hanging, her left wrist and waist tied up in a nest of beads. The medic-nin finally let out a shout of anger. "Let GO!"

The dark-haired kunoichi from the Waterfall felt her heart crumble. Then panic grew. "Return!" Chie ordered.

The beaded ropes shrunk and retracted back into the arena wall. A shriek escaped Sakura as the beads tossed her up. The rosary severed contact while she was still mid-air, and disappeared into the arena walls, flinging the kunoichi up through the air like a sling-shot.

Sakura saw the hard wall zooming at her. She closed her eyes for the impact.

The audience winced as the rock wall burst. They had not heard the fighters' conversation because of all the cheering and calling. But they had definitely _felt_ that crash.

Chie yanked the rosary, and twisted it back on her arm. She swallowed, a trail of sweat soaking her back. 'I was wrong.' The dark-haired girl turned around with regret in her face. 'I'm sorry, Haruno-san. I mistook you for the wrong person...'

Kakashi silently cursed as Chie walked away. This was the end for Sakura. He only hoped that he could catch Sakura's body when it tumbled down the arena wall.

Nothing came.

A cloud of dust floated away from the point of impact. A dirty Sakura appeared, her gloved hands and sandaled feet plastered to the stone with chakra. The wall around her was nearly rubble. But she was attached to the wall, and very much conscious.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan!" Naruto whooped. "Did yah see that, Sasuke? Huh, huh? She used chakra to soften the impact!"

"I saw it." Sasuke tried to loosen himself up. When those weird chains had caught Sakura, he felt as though the world had stopped. He had his Sharingan on during that time, and a powerful chakra appeared to leak out of the rosary. Yet it did not seem to affect Sakura — it encircled her body instead of penetrating her. And thank God she had reflexes to put some safety in that collision.

Chie halted in her footsteps when the crowd yelled. The kunoichi turned around. 'No way...'

Sakura was already behind Chie. "What did you say back there," she spoke slowly, yet articulately, "what those beads are?"

Chie felt weak in her knees. It didn't make sense to her anymore. And she was terrified of that outraged look in Sakura's green eyes.

Okay, so it was true. Chie's shaman technique bound onto youkai and spiritually-gifted humans, whether good or bad, and immobilized them. It could also catch normal people — even shaman made mistakes in judgment — but it would loosen after a few struggles. Sakura was unaffected by the rosary, save physical torture on her limbs from hanging in the chains. Sakura was normal.

But the fact that Sakura was confronting Chie about it was NOT something a normal person would do. Most people would just label Chie's skill as a neat trick, or designate it to a bloodline limit. Fear or admiration; one of the two came from common folk, and certainly ninja.

Sakura curled her hands together. "Referee!" she barked at her former teacher. "Stop me if you feel like it."

The silver-haired jounin stilled as he followed through with her hands. Kakashi was not surprised that she could control such a technique, but the cleanliness and lack of hesitation to use it on Sakura's part made him tense. The only time she used torture-related genjutsu was to run away...

Chie only collapsed to the ground. Her world turned black and white. She saw her arm bleeding, decaying. Maggots crawled in and out of the gash, gnawing away at her flesh. She was dying; her holy rosary was gone...

Tears dripped down from Chie's eyes. She did not even scream. "I... I give up," Chie whispered.

Kakashi raised his hand. Chie's voice had been barely coherent, yet the rules marked it as a surrender. "Winner: Haruno Sakura."

Sakura did not seem to heed Kakashi, or the shouts echoing from the stands. She strode towards Chie, and lifted her up by the scruff of her neck. "Tell me again," Sakura hissed, "what those beads are made of."

"Let me go..." Chie sobbed.

"SPILL IT!" Sakura yelled out.

The jounin's one eye creased. So that was why Sakura had used genjutsu, despite her good position to hit her opponent — Sakura wanted Chie to retain the ability of speaking coherently in an interrogation. "Sakura," Kakashi said in an admonishing tone, "she's given up. Are you trying to win a match or a cat-fight?"

His former student looked at him. Sakura felt something akin to trembling within her — from rage or shame, she did not know. That was the first time Kakashi told her off for anything. Now that she thought about it, it was about time. He really never enforced anything on her while on Team Seven.

Sakura's fingers loosened from Chie's clothing, dropping the terrified girl. The Taki-nin slowly got up, and backed away from Sakura. Chie turned her heels and ran, drops of tears escaping her blue eyes.

Sakura pushed back a loose strand of pink hair. "You shouldn't have stopped me, Sensei."

"She's harmless," Kakashi said with a shrug. He looked intently at Sakura. "Although your escape methods were good, a display of anger will drastically lower your chances for going to chuunin."

"But I don't want to be chuunin," Sakura said quietly through grit teeth.

Kakashi scratched his bushy mane. If there was any feeling of surprise in him, it was unnoticeable. The mask sure came in handy at times.

* * *

A two-hour break was issued before the Final Four round. Aside offering the spectators time to eat lunch and shop a bit, the period of rest also bestowed something of physical rest to the contestants.

Hardly anybody knew that a genin hid herself in a dirt-floor room, underneath the stands.

Chie sobbed quietly in the corner.

She had been so sure that her target was Haruno Sakura. But her failure to assassinate the Priestess was of no importance to her anymore. The rosary of her wrist was showing the first signs of decay. Within the hour, she would surely die.

'A human broke it. She _broke_ it!'

Chie wasn't angry at Sakura anymore. She had no reason to be. Sakura was not the Priestess of Souls. It was Chie's own fault for misjudging. If a normal human broke it, it was a sign of her own incompetence.

A bead fell from the string, and rolled away. As the rosary crumbled, a rash developed into a boil. The skin began to open up, a bleeding wound forming.

Chie laid herself down. She did not want to face anybody now. Maybe the infection would just go away... But she had been suppressing it for nearly a year.

(( A raven-haired woman in a kimono nudged a young Chie towards the priest. The girl seemed hesitant.

"Mama, he's scary," the little one whimpered.

"Don't worry," Chie's mother whispered. "He's the wisest of our house. You have the blood from a long line of powerful priests and priestesses. You'll make me proud." ))

A quiet gasp came from the darkness.

Chie weakly opened her eyes at the foreign sound. So somebody found her hiding place. Was a stranger going to witness her death? Or even worse: take her to a cold hospital, giving random doctors the chance to marvel at how her arm rotted before their eyes?

A girl with midnight hair and the palest eyes stood above Chie's prone form. "Are you alright?"

Hinata knelt down to Chie. 'How did she receive this wound?' Hinata wondered. 'Sakura-san didn't even use weapons against her in the match!' The heiress reached for Chie's swollen arm.

"Don't touch it!" Chie cried out, cradling the disfiguring limb out of sight. She gasped, trying to clear her stuffed nose. "Please... go away..."

"You have to see a doctor for that," Hinata insisted. "As a guest ninja, you have access to Konoha's medical facilities—"

"No doctor can cure me of this!" Chie screamed, frightening Hinata for a brief moment. Hinata's lavender eyes took a closer look — she saw the despair in the Taki-nin's face. "This... is a wound from a monster," Chie whispered out. She didn't know why, but she felt as though this stranger would understand the predicament she was in. Chie carefully got up. Blood trickled from her left arm. "I've had it for a year. Nobody can cure it. Not even my family, a clan of priests..."

Hinata stared at Chie's arm. The beads were falling apart from the rosary. The wound opened slowly but surely. It revealed flesh, muscle... and was that white spot an area of bone?

"Don't stand up!" Hinata exclaimed. She reached for Chie's wound, but she was thrown back by a rough shove.

"Let me die in peace!" the former Priestess retorted. At that moment, the string with the last three beads fell from her arm. Chie collapsed against the wall, and slowly slid down. "Let me..."

Hinata picked herself. She noticed that a fleck of Chie's blood was on her cheek. Her finger traced the blood, and held it in front of her face. Her lavender eyes began to glow white. Hinata gasped at what she saw in the red liquid.

The flesh around Chie's left arm began to curl and shrivel up. A bitter smile traced her lips. So this was how she was going to die: watched by some girl from Konoha. At least death was not as painful as she had imagined it to be. The cold and agony of her arm began to fade away.

* * *

Sweat formed on Hinata's brow as she molded chakra. Chie arm had an infection of foreign aura — more specifically, miasma. It seemed like there had been a gash there for a long time, but the rosary kept Chie's arm together by force, putting a seal on the destructive energy. That is, until it broke in the last match.

Lines of swirling white chakra danced between Hinata's palms. The web-like strings of white collected to the center. They were repelled, like a drop of oil onto water. Although Chie's body seemed only glad to have some service, the infesting miasma recognized the nature of Hinata's touch. It felt how inexperienced she was, and decided to thrash out. Yet Hinata held her stance.

After a minute of treatment and still going, Hinata realized that a normal person would have already called for a medic. "Somebody, please help!" Hinata screamed as loud as she could. Leaving this genin's side even for a second was out of the question.

Blood seeped out from Chie's arm. 'I beg to you, gods, spare this girl!' Hinata prayed frantically.

Chie was slowly gaining consciousness, but only barely. Punctured with small cries, she murmured out for her parents, her master, and other people. They started with apologies, pertaining to her weakness as a priestess, and then as a fighter — then they transferred to helpless wails, pleading others to just leave her alone.

"She's lost hope," a voice echoed.

Hinata looked up, and saw the bouyant form of Zashiki Warashi. A sad look was on the ghost's face, as if he had seen this scene before far too many times.

"She's what?" Hinata asked.

"She's lost her will to live," Warashi said. "Although her body is willing, her soul and the foreign youki are rejecting your powers as the Priestess."

Hinata kept one glowing hand on the wound, while raising the other to Chie's shoulder and shaking it. "Morikawa-san!"

Warashi paused at the name. "Morikawa..." He stared at Chie, and recognition passed his eyes. He shook his head. "It's no use, Hinata-neechan," Warashi muttered. "Even if she lasted this long with her fujutsu, she doesn't want to live anymore."

"Chie!" Hinata cried out, hoping that addressing the girl so would make her feel more comfortable. "Please, don't die — you have friends, family!"

Chie barely reacted. "I used to have them." Her breathing was shallow. "I failed my clan."

"Ignore the expectations of your clan!" Hinata pleaded. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "There has to be one person who loves you for who you are! You only need _one_!"

The words rung in Chie's ears. One person like that? She couldn't imagine.

Well... there was Koujirou. Did that count? She had known him since they were little. 'Didn't Koujirou ask me something really dumb back then?'

(( A five-year-old Koujirou thrust a rough bouquet of dandelions into Chie's nose. "Chie-chan..." he mumbled. "When we're older, will you marry me?"

The little Chie blinked. "What does 'marry' mean?" she asked innocently.

The brown-haired boy's ears turned crimson. He turned around, and bolted from the playground.

"Wait!" Chie shouted. "That's not fair; you're smarter than me! What does that word mean?" ))

Her parents teased her about it when she asked. They said that a one-time romance with Koujirou was fine, but she certainly wouldn't be able to marry him: she was already engaged to someone else within the clan. Koujirou looked disappointed at the news, but only temporarily — he kept on being her playmate. As they grew older, Koujirou began training as a ninja, and somehow Chie found herself throwing shuriken just was well as he was. Much to the reluctance of her family, they let her train as a shinobi.

When Chie was accepted by a guardian ghost, naturally her family was ecstatic. Little did she know, however, that the clan had been predicting this moment in history for almost three centuries. She dropped out as a shinobi, and became a fulltime priestess. She rarely saw Koujirou or other friends while she was bogged down with missions in finding demons. As part of the Morikawa clan, it was insisted that she do her work alone, for 'strength purposes'. It went all fine and well. Chie was even entrusted by the village to extract holy water from the ancient tree, a rare and important ritual.

But one night, it all went terribly wrong. After several months of working, Chie simply burned out. Four youkai had cornered her in her weakened state. Chie had been able to slay three. The last monster slashed her left arm with poisonous claws. Had not one of the clan elders intervened and put the rosary on her arm, the miasma would have killed Chie within the hour.

And that was when the guardian ghost left Chie, the Priestess of Souls.

It gave no explanation why it was leaving her, not even a goodbye. But Chie was sure it had something to do with her arm. Only later did she find out the truth about her rosary.

(( "The beads are souls of vengeful spirits?" Chie stood up in the gathering room of her family's mansion, in front of all her seated relatives. "How... how dare you place this unclean thing on me! No wonder my ghost abandoned me, he—"

"Silence, you ungrateful brat!" her uncle roared. Chie flinched. "That 'unclean thing' was the only item powerful enough to seal your arm and save your pathetic life. It was due to your own incompetence that you were struck by that demon in the first place!"

The head elder motioned his temperamental son to quiet down. "It is a very serious matter that you were stripped of your title as the Priestess of Souls, Chie." He sighed. "As you are... no more fit for that role, you may go back to your former job as a kunoichi. We will not hinder you. The rosary is yours to keep. Speak of this to no one." ))

Koujirou was confused at first, and then glad, when Chie showed up for missions once more. He asked her what made her change her mind. She stiffened only, and walked away. The boy found out later from the village gossip that Chie had suffered a lowering in rank within her clan. Nevertheless, Koujirou ran after her, and tried to cheer her up a bit. He felt a little uncomfortable with her bitter remarks. But to Chie's surprise, he put up with her frozen attitude, mission after mission.

(( "I... I'm just worried about you." ))

Now that Chie thought about it, Koujirou was the only faithful friend she ever had.

* * *

Hinata felt her ki rush into Chie's arm. The energy laced into the wound with more freedom. "Warashi-chan! I think she's accepting me!"

The impurities hissed out. Even bits of what looked like claws bubbled out from the open wound. Hinata pulled them out gently with tweezers from her medical kit, careful not to pock any pressure points or blood vessels.

"She must have gone through a lot of pain with that curse," Warashi commented. "She's from the Morikawa, a clan of shamans near the Hidden Village of Waterfall. I had no idea they still kept up their art." He glanced at the strewn rosary beads in the room. "We have to pick these up."

"Not yet, Warashi-chan." Hinata tore a piece of cloth from her thin jacket, and used it to bandage the gash in Chie's arm. Even though the miasma was gone and dispelled, there was still a physical wound left over.

The door of the room opened with a bang. Uchiha Sasuke had kicked the door in, after Naruto's 'lock pick' got jammed in the keyhole and then broke off.

"And the bodyguards come right on time!" the ghost said cheerfully, if not sarcastically.

"Hey, you stupid poltergeist, these omamori ought to point towards Hinata at _all_ times, not just during youkai attacks!" Naruto shouted at the small Warashi.

"The omamori don't point to Hinata-neechan; they point to youkai," Warashi said. "Besides, as much as she likes you," he commented with a snicker, "I don't think Hinata-neechan wants a stalker for a boyfriend." Naruto's face burned.

Hinata blushed as red as Naruto did. 'Actually, I stalked Naruto a few times. But I won't mention that.' After bandaging the arm, Hinata gently pushed Chie into the recovery position.

Naruto noticed something on the floor, resembling a stray marble. His hand reached out for it — he drew back when Kyuubi's instinct jumped in. "Hinata-chan, did you check this with your eyes? Because I feel a weird chakra around it."

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said, gesturing to the mess of beads scattered all around, "there's chakra coming from _all_ of these."

The blond's hand smacked on his hitai-ate. "We have to pick up ALL of them?"

Sasuke's eyes converted to the Sharingan. His red eyes studied one bead: blue chakra leaked out of it.

When no explosion took place, Sasuke cautiously neared his hands towards the bead. His finger-tip brushed past the aura: he immediately identified it as a human force. But how could it have gone into a little glass sphere like this?

Subconsciously, his vision fell into the bead's shining surface — an image of someone stabbing a knife into him flashed by. He heard a scream.

The very pale Sasuke felt his arm brutally yanked up.

Naruto held Sasuke's wrist tightly. "Don't touch those," Naruto said. The blond's courtesy was immediately awarded with a punch to the shoulder. "Hey!"

"I will do what is necessary," Sasuke muttered.

"Don't touch them," Warashi said, repeating Naruto's words. "Inside each bead is a compacted soul, who suffered painful or treacherous deaths. In other words, hungry ghosts. Sasuke-niichan, you particularly stay away." The ghost turned to Hinata. "Okay, I'll teach you a jutsu that comes in handy for messes like these. First, hold your hands out like so..."

Meanwhile, Naruto tapped a few signals into his electronic headpiece, courtesy of the security crew. "This is the Fox speaking. We have a wounded genin from the Waterfall, Morikawa Chie, in section D of the first floor, over." He heard several voices through the microphone. "No, Bushy Crow did not attack her," Naruto growled.

"My codename is _the Raven_," Sasuke emphasized.

"Nevermore," Naruto said, glancing only slightly to his rival. "Bushy Crow fits you better." Several more crackling messages went through the headpiece.

* * *

Sakura inhaled deeply. It was a face-off against Hirosuke.

She felt terrible. For lunch, she had only been able to force down one rice-ball. The match with Chie had mentally shaken Sakura, especially that bead. She was too nervous to eat.

Not to mention, those leers he shot at her were disgusting. He had the gall to do that in the arena, of all places.

Hirosuke's fingers ran through his hair. Sakura noticed that the sunshine revealed a hint of green in the teenager's dark hair, much in the way Sasuke's hair had an iris-blue tint under the right conditions.

Kakashi felt the tense air between the two fighters. 'The match hasn't even started yet,' he commented to himself.

Sakura glared at her opponent, trying to look as serious as possible. The screams of her lesbian fangirls in the stands did not help much — they only encouraged the Cheshire smile on Hirosuke's face to broaden.

When the Taki-nin addressed her, his voice was smooth and confident. "Before we start, Haruno-san, I want to say that I was impressed with you bypassing Chie's jutsu."

"Your point?" Sakura spat.

Hirosuke cocked his head. "You have certain... abilities, is what I'm saying."

"That's enough." Kakashi raised his arm. "Hoshino Hirosuke versus Haruno Sakura. Ready — GO!"

Sakura sprinted towards Hirosuke, and aimed a punch at him. He tilted his head sideways to evade it, and threw a fist towards her chest. Her leg was faster than his arm; she spun around and kicked his chest. A direct hit, the Taki-nin went flying backwards.

The pink-haired kunochi took in several deep breaths, observing her enemy carefully. 'Blood escaping his mouth,' Sakura noted. 'Probably a rib fracture, since I kicked him in the chest.' She ran with chakra in her feet, and jumped in the air.

Hirosuke's eyes opened. The pink-haired kunochi dropped above him with her knees curled downward, clearly intending to nail a crushing blow to his stomach with her body weight as power.

He rolled over in the last moment, causing Sakura to hit the bare ground painfully on her knees. She lifted herself upward with a wince.

Hirosuke already knew that there were two large bruises forming on her kneecaps. Sakura crouched down slightly, almost like a child who experienced their first scrape by a fall to the ground.

The Taki-nin laughed. "You probably were thinking, 'Oh, he's coughing up blood; I must have broken one of his ribs.' Right?" Hirosuke sneered. "I bit my lip so that you'd run in, thinking you had a chance. Overestimating injuries... Typical medic-nin." He pulled out a kunai from his holster, and aimed to stab Sakura's hunched form.

Sakura suddenly caught his wrist, and twisted it. He screamed out in pain, and dropped the kunai. Sakura used this feint to throw a knee upward into his jaw.

Holding both of his wrists in a tight grip, Sakura smirked at his bruised chin. "You probably were thinking, 'Oh, she's hurt both of her knees, so she won't be able to run and kick well.' Right?" The kunoichi raised her knee again, this time giving a searing pain into his groin. "While you were laughing your sorry ass off, I healed those bruises with the Chiyute no Jutsu. A bruise is nothing but a wound under the skin, after all." Her green eyes gave off a lazy air. "Typical medic-nin."

Hirosuke twisted one wrist from Sakura, and grabbed at the front of her shirt. He was aiming to pull her over his head in a martial arts throw. But the feel of his grip, and the dangerous glint in his eyes, triggered something in Sakura's mind.

(( "Please, please, let me go!"

"You are _mine,_ " A voice hissed. "Don't try to fight it."

"I know nothing!" the woman screamed. "Just leave me be..." Sobbing misted the blurry image. A writhing pain stabbed her. A shriek escaped her mouth. "NO!" ))

Sakura counter-twisted the tug, and threw Hirosuke off. She backed away several paces, as if Hirosuke was covered in filth.

Her breathing was hard. That vision had not been her own personal experience; it was that of a person now dead. Sakura had seen it before: when she broke that rosary bead during her fight with Chie. And that frightened look on Hinata's face in the locker room...

(( "I would be dead by him if Naruto-kun didn't rescue me. And under NO circumstances should you go into a closed room with him!" ))

Sakura's gaze froze onto the face of her opponent. 'This guy...'

Hirosuke raised an eyebrow at the new rage in Sakura's green eyes. She suddenly charged at him.

The Taki-nin stepped backwards carefully. He barely evaded her boxing arms; her sudden anger was powering her. With a burst of chakra, he retreated ten meters back.

Hirosuke saw the panting form of Sakura, and smirked. The girl had wasted her strength. "I suppose I should get to the point." Hirosuke curled one hand into a seal, and reached behind his back.

Kakashi creased his brow. 'No way...'

Sakura's green eyes opened wide. She backed away — but it was too late. Hirosuke was up close and personal, holding a _sword_. He grabbed a hold of the kunoichi's green shirt, and made an upward cut.

The tearing noise echoed in her ears, triggering her memory. Again, the unknown girl's voice echoed in Sakura's mind.

(( "LEAVE ME ALONE!" ))

Hirosuke lifted his sword, and rested it over his shoulder. "I recognize chest-binding when I see it. Or in your case, stomach-binding."

Sakura's felt her arms trembling. Her green top had a long slash, showing her black undergarments. Lower down, ivory strips of canvas loosened from Sakura's abdomen.

Kakashi was first confused at what the canvas was — and then he recognized its symbols and kanji.

"A sealing scroll," Hirosuke identified, pointing at the shredded pieces of canvas. "The only reason why Chie's shaman technique didn't work against you was because you were _already_ sealed." His tongue licked his lips. "Keeping in power like that is such a shame."

Sakura's hands grew cold. He had known all this time about the sealing. And he pretty much stripped her before the entire crowd. Even her former teacher had to watch this on the sidelines...

"Won't you thank me for releasing your binds? I'd rather have you thrash out more in combat." Hirosuke's eyes trailed down Sakura's chest. "You're beautiful, you know. A sight like that gives me chills."

Sakura's lips tightened. She felt the remains of the scroll drop away from her waist. Her shirt was barely intact.

Venom laced Sakura's whisper. "You want to see it, huh?" The kunoichi ripped off the green cloth and the remains of the sealing scroll, leaving her torso in nothing but a fishnet undershirt with a solid black bra. "You've just signed your death warrant!" she shouted.

Kakashi pushed up his forehead protector, revealed the Sharingan eye with the faint scar. From the furious look Sakura was giving off, and the fact that Hirosuke, a genin, knew how to utilize a sword, this was a high-risk combat. 'I again thank you for this eye, Obito... Sakura, don't lose your focus.'

Sakura ran towards her opponent, and then disappeared. She appeared above Hirosuke, her face contorted with rage.

"I'll beat you to a bloody pulp!" the medic-nin screamed, her leg swinging down. Hirosuke dodged the axe-kick. The ground next to him burst as the chakra-infused heel crashed into the ground: the blow caved a meter-wide crater into the earth.

"There we go," Hirosuke muttered. "A real match." The armed shinobi lunged towards her with a shout. "Get ready, bitch priestess!"

Sakura evaded each move, stepping meticulously. Hirosuke could swing his heavy sword well, so she had to aim her lower kicks and side-punches with the utmost care. She molded chakra, and crossed her hands for an illusion — Hirosuke's sword ripped through the air, dispelling the lines of genjutsu before they reached his sensory points.

Sakura huffed. Hirosuke could put special chakra in his sword as well, albeit small. Standing ten meters away from her opponent, she paused to catch her breath. 'How am I supposed to land a hit without getting sliced?' she wondered. 'And where the hell did he get that sword? It's as if he pulled it out of thin air!'

Sakura appeared behind Hirosuke, readying several shuriken. Her eyes trailed on his back. There were two scabbards tied to his back.

Her thoughts halted. _Two_ scabbards?

As Sakura's foot made contact with his ankle, the kunoichi recalled what happened, right before Hirosuke's sword appeared: he had used one hand-seal, reached for something behind his back. 'There was also paper with markings stuffed in those scabbards,' Sakura thought. 'Is it possible that...'

She made a quick hypothesis, and decided to give it a try.

Sakura folded her hands. She willed an illusion of pink petals to drape around her form.

Hirosuke felt a shadow cover him. He looked up to see a flower-covered Sakura, dropping at him with a kunai in her hand. "I told you, that doesn't WORK!" he shouted.

Kakashi tensed up, ready to push away Sakura from the Taki-nin. Hirosuke was too close. Yet he stopped himself: his Sharingan eye caught a glint in her hand.

Hirosuke thrust his weapon upwards. He felt his sword clash against metal. Sakura's kunai firmly kept back his sword — she had the physical strength, no doubt about that. Hirosuke's second hand laced over the other, and pivoted the sword in the right direction: the kunai was thrown out of Sakura's hand. "Game over!" he shouted.

Sakura crossed her fingers into the hand-seal. She reached for the air behind Hirosuke's neck. Her fingers brushed something solid. "There!" she whispered. She grabbed at whatever it was, and pulled. The sound of metal hummed through the air.

Sakura drew a second sword out of Hirosuke's back.

Before he could attack her, Sakura kicked off his shoulders, and flew backwards in the air. She landed on her feet and knees.

The Konoha-nin raised herself up. She looked at the broadsword within her grasp.

"You little thief," Hirosuke muttered.

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	22. Fear versus Confidence

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I do not own Flame of Recca. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Some people are wondering about the crossings of linguistic, cultural, and story crossovers. I already mentioned the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (also in the prequal), and last chapter had Edgar Allen Poe. Even though the Naruto world is in Japanese, consider the references as silly coincidences, which the characters themselves may or may not recognize. And this story is actually a crossover with another anime, but you won't need to know about it to understand this story. I'll put up the disclaimer when it's necessary.

Mint: you're right! The mistakes you pointed out were correct; I went ahead and fixed the first, so that the little slug learns both terms 'male' and 'female' before actually using them.

Some people are getting confused over the spelling of Sasuke's family name. It is written and pronounced "Uchiha". The only time that the kana of "ha" is pronounced as "wa" in Japanese, is when it's a _particle_ in a sentence. One example is "Naruto wa ninja desu." (Trans: 'Naruto is a ninja.') If it were a word, like in "reihai" ('worship') or "hatake" ('rice field'), "ha" is pronounce "ha". There is an actual kana that has "wa" designated for it — look at a Japanese kana chart; it's the second to the last kana.

wojt: Thank you for being the only reviewer intelligent enough to figure out the difficulty Sakura would have. Other people were overly optimistic, just because the word 'sword' came in.

Enzeru no Yami: The word "zoku" means 'clan', an extended family. By the way, your username doesn't actually mean 'angel of darkness'. There is a Japanese word for 'angel' — it's "tenshi" — and you have the words flipped backwards in the possessive. The way it is now, it looks like 'angel's darkness' or 'darkness of an angel'. I think that sounds cooler and more original, actually. But if you insist upon 'Angel of Darkness', you need "Yami no Tenshi". (Please don't kill me for correcting you!)

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 22: Fear versus Confidence

* * *

Sakura stared at the broadsword in her hand. Its weight pulled down on her arm like lead.

The first thought in her brain was exactly in one term.

'SHIT.'

The intensity of her mistake numbed her like poison. Sakura only knew kendo and iaido. If she used a sword at all, it had to be a katana: a curved edge, a semi-long hilt so that two hands could hold it on top of each other, and a decent guard. A killing tool so refined and sharp, that its user had the luxury to prevent blood and gore from soiling his clothes.

The broadsword in her hand was an exact duplicate of the one Hirosuke held. A thick, straight blade, a short hilt which allowed only one hand to hold it... and heavy as a sack of potatoes.

Her muscles were sturdy. But she couldn't swing this. Its structure was all wrong!

Sakura should have realized that Hirosuke had a _broadsword_ before she activated his calling-sheath. It was an advanced ability that he could summon a sword at will — but even if she did figure it out, it served Sakura no purpose. She needed a katana. Now that she thought about it, there would be no way that Hirosuke possessed an expensive blade like a katana. He was from the Waterfall, which could barely afford such high-quality weapons... much less train with them.

In addition, there was a very big catch for any ninja who used large weapons: one or both of their hands would be occupied, meaning that no hand-seals were possible. No ninjutsu, no genjutsu. In other words, Sakura had just traded in her healing and illusionary techniques for a sword she had no _use_ for. Except maybe blocking.

From Sakura's left, a sphere flew through the air. The kemuri-dama exploded, sending a dark cloud every which way. Sakura felt the smoke burn the soft tissues of her eyes and lungs. The kunoichi ran out of the smoke cloud, gasping for clean air. She yelped when Hirosuke's broadsword came from the side; she raised its twin to deflect the attack.

'I am such an IDIOT!'

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. Although Sakura moved the heavy broadsword in a clumsy way, the curve of her arm's motion was slightly familiar. She kept her eyes on Hirosuke's weapon, and moved hers to meet it — her movements were jerky, but they formed a pattern. His one Sharingan eye caught a ripple of certain shoulder muscles. 'Could it be...?'

The pink-haired girl shrieked as she evaded a downward cut of Hirosuke's blade. She rolled away just in time. A few pink hairs were cut away.

A foreign voice entered her mind. 'Why are you running?' it asked.

Sakura clutched herself, feeling the soft ki churn from her stomach, and swirl into her mind. 'No! Not here... Not now...'

'You know of your potential. And yet you try to seal it.' The strange power forced Sakura's eyes to observe, once again, the licentious and sadistic air around Hirosuke.

Sakura began to inwardly tremble. She should have already given up at the moment Hirosuke shred her sealing scroll. But her pride in her deduction skills had gotten the better of her; she just _had_ to keep going. And now that power within her simmered.

'I don't want to change,' she thought. 'But... this man is...'

"Hah!" Hirosuke swung his weapon at her head. His opponent scarcely blocked it with the broadsword — she was holding steady so far. But he had been taking it easy on her all this time, just to toy with her. 'I should just finish her off now,' he thought. But that look of turmoil in her eyes only egged him on to keep playing with her — to beat her, yet keep her alive.

The silver-haired jounin watched his former student move. That sealing scroll she had on before prevented any usage of elemental jutsu, forcing her to use her strengths: taijutsu, healing techniques, and bit of genjutsu. No powerful blast of aura whatsoever.

Kakashi glanced at the box which held the daimyo. The feudal lords shifted uneasily as they witnessed the match. A few even looked angry. 'Damn. So they see what I see.' the jounin thought. He turned his head at the wretched state of his former student.

"Sakura!" Kakashi yelled out. "If you know what's good for you, drop that and use something else!"

Sakura's green eyes blinked. Her teacher's voice held so much worry and concern — it made her heart break. "You're not supposed to advise, Referee!" she cried out. "I'll do as I see fit!"

"Sakura, this is NOT about whether you can handle a sword!" Kakashi said. "I'm talking about the political consequences of your actions!"

Before Sakura could figure out what he meant by that, a humming blade cut through her thoughts. She raised the broadsword, and blocked Hirosuke's attack. It was stronger than before. Her shoulder and back muscles almost seized up.

The Taki-nin laughed, watching his opponent stagger back with fear in her eyes. Her skills of logic were superb — he never thought that a Konoha genin would be able to figure out the calling technique on his sheaths. But he had succeeded in scaring her to the point where she couldn't move.

Sakura's head was tilted downward, as if she were a mindless doll.

"You're afraid of showing your deviance," Hirosuke told her. "That is your weakness." He shifted his stance, and then ran towards her frozen state with a battle cry.

The kunoichi lifted her head. She caught Hirosuke's expression: murderous, vile, and crude. Just like when he...

Kakashi began to run. "This match is _over_!"

Sakura's green eyes stared into nothingness. A zephyr passed, causing pink strands of her hair to lift upward.

Blood spurted out like a fountain.

* * *

Naruto choked on his own saliva.

Sasuke closed his eyes.

* * *

A look of bewilderment crossed Hirosuke. "You're..."

Sakura clumsily yanked out the broadsword from her opponent's stomach. Flecks of Hirosuke's blood jumped onto her face, adding to the mess that already had splattered on her black pants.

The shaking Taki-nin collapsed to his knees. He lifted his face to see the kunoichi who had beaten him — not in the sword, but speed. Who knew that Sakura would lift up the weapon in the very last moment for an offensive attack?

Sakura's eyes were partially open, shining and dark like crystalline emeralds. Her facial expression was void of any emotion, making her appearance all the more mysterious and terrible. It was as if she were a totally different person from the scared girl ten seconds ago.

"Hoshino Hirosuke," Sakura said in a low tone, "I charge you with first-degree criminal penetration." She saw him weakly look up, confused by her words. "You _raped_ a girl," her voice condemned. Sakura let the tip of the broadsword hit the ground. "And I wouldn't be surprised if you victimized more than one."

"Sakura, that's quite enough." Kakashi raised his hand, indicating Sakura's victory. He motioned for the medical personnel to come.

The bloodied young man stared at Sakura, especially her mental transformation.

Then, a manical laughter seeped out of the defeated ninja. "Why...why don't you prove it? HUH?" Hirosuke challenged. "You think a cut like this will KILL me?"

"I destroyed one kidney," the medic-nin stated, "as well cut through the intestines. You will most certainly die of blood loss." The kunoichi looked up. A hazy atmosphere leaked out of her glare. "On the other hand," she continued, "your overconfidence is _inhuman_."

Within a split second, the young woman appeared behind Hirosuke, broadsword in hand. With a murderous gleam in her eye, she threw the thick blade sideways towards his neck.

"SAKURA!"

The pink-haired kunoichi blinked. She looked sideways, and saw that Kakashi tightly held her wrist. His one Sharingan eye glared at her. "Why are you trying to execute him?" Kakashi admonished. "You are in no position to do so, especially when he is already dying."

Hirosuke's form dropped to the ground. A low chuckle emerged once more.

Sakura tensed — yet Kakashi's grip tightened, reminding her where she was. The kunoichi felt sudden shame, and relaxed to his will: the broadsword dropped to her feet. She allowed her former teacher to pull her away as the medics rushed past.

Hirosuke was laughing uproariously as he lay on the ground, his life staining the dirt. "You don't get it, DO YOU?" he shouted. "I will ravish you until you have no feeling left, and I'll kill you!" His face grew pale. The breaths coming from him were quick and incomplete. "I'll... kill... you..."

He exhaled. His form was still. Horror and disgust overtook Sakura. She turned away.

Kakashi's sandaled feet brushed the ground next to her. "First kill, I presume?" he asked her. "You'll get over it. He was pretty insane anyway."

"Yes, Sensei..." Sakura mumbled.

The hand of Hirosuke's corpse twitched.

* * *

Hinata walked towards her seat in the stands. Having just seen Chie off in the medical ward, she was already missing part of Sakura's match. It was difficult to see what was happening right now; some spectators were sometimes getting up with all the tension.

Hinata froze. A mix of strange spiritual force washed over her. The next second, she vaguely heard cries of revulsion erupt from spectators around her.

She had felt a two unknown forces from the arena. The first one was mysterious, ebbing and flowing in an uncertain direction, just like the calm before a storm. The second was different. It was like a burst of healing energy — yet twisted in an alarming direction, as if it were free to heal what it wanted and leave others dying, making its power known as it pleased.

Her Sight switched on, and zoomed in on the contestants. Hirosuke's body lay in a pool of blood, the Hardened Soul nestled within his clothes. The physique of Sakura was a pale blue... yet when Hinata looked closer at Sakura's brain, there was a tiny dot of...

"Onee-sama?" Hanabi said.

Hinata gasped. She realized that her little sister was looking at her in concern. A brush of yellow hair came to her side — Naruto, holding her shoulders and back in support. 'Did I almost faint?' Hinata wondered.

Naruto sympathetically rubbed her back. "I'm sorry if that was too intense for you, Hinata-chan," the blond said. "I honestly didn't know that Sakura-chan would do such a thing..."

Hinata shook her head. "I'm okay," she said. In truth, she was wondering what to do, now that Hirosuke was dead. The Hardened Soul was on his body — but like all ninja, his corpse would be taken by his home village and disposed of. What would happen to that powerful item then?

A terrifying thought passed Hinata. She would have to track down Hirosuke's corpse before it was desecrated, and take the jewel. In other words, grave robbery. She shivered. 'Does a Priestess of Souls have to go that far?'

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto stroked a comfortable finger behind Hinata's ear, bringing the heiress back into the real world (as well as earning him a glare from her younger sister). "If you feel a little queasy, we can skip the next match, and go for a walk."

"Don't worry," Hinata said, her face brightening. Her thoughts turned pensive — she decided to make conversation in order to pull attention away from herself. "Morikawa-san has a good chance of recovery," she mentioned, feeling inclined to bring good news about Chie. "The doctors are giving her a blood transfusion now."

Naruto nodded, again feeling the bubbly warmth that came ever time he saw his girlfriend smile. "She'll be okay. Ever since Tsunade-baachan came in as Hokage, Konoha's medical program has grown stronger, and faster," he said. "The actual staff number is still kind of low, but there are more ninja aspiring to be medics — a three to eight percent jump among genin, in fact."

Stares of awe and bewilderment came from Hinata and Hanabi. Since when did Naruto know statistics?

"I read some figures, okay?" Naruto made a peace-sign. "Gotta know this stuff if I want to be Hokage-material."

"Shouldn't you be wondering instead," Hanabi asked coolly, "where your psycho-friend went?"

Naruto blinked, and looked down at where Sasuke was... supposed to be. The Uchiha had disappeared, thus endangering their seats from being taken.

Naruto groaned. "He ran away," he said. '_Again,_' he mentally added. "But I think I know where he is."

* * *

"None shall pass," the guard droned.

Sasuke crossed his arms, and glared at the Konoha shinobi. For some reason, he had a strange feeling that he was in a duel himself... and a really stupid one at that. He pulled out a note. "Let me see her. I have permission from Kakashi to come here."

The guard scrutinized it, before waving it off. "Fine. Go," he said. "Although, you'd better be quick. The guard before me was lax, and there are some people in the hallways who're already looking for Haruno-san... who, quite frankly, should not have been let in."

Indignation flared in Sasuke. "There are assassins in there?" he asked, teeth slightly bared.

"No." The guard shook his head. "Worse."

'_What?_' Now seriously concerned, Sasuke began to stride towards the empty corridor — then stilled. His ears sensed the fainted creaking of wood from above. The Uchiha looked up.

Sakura hung on the ceiling wall, her limbs interlacing the support.

"What are you doing there?" he asked sternly. "You're wasting chakra."

Sakura carefully made her way to the ground, ran to Sasuke, and clasped her hands together. "Hide me!" Sakura begged. "They've been after me since the match!"

"Who?" Sasuke demanded.

"Fangirls." Sakura fidgeted. "_Yuri_ fangirls."

Sasuke blinked. There was a long pause between them.

The guard, not being able to take it anymore, burst into laughter. "Shut up!" Sakura hissed furiously at him. "I'm serious! They want to take pictures of me, _in the locker room_!" The man continued laughing.

"Isn't yuri a type of flower?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura's lips tightened. Yes, 'yuri' was the lily-flower, but it also meant... wait, would Sasuke even _want_ to know?

The standing ninja howled in mirth, banging a fist on the wall. Simply amazing! Uchiha Sasuke, shinobi extraordinaire, was innocent as a baby when it came to the murkier depths of art and literature.

"THERE SHE IS!" one feminine voice called. Five young ladies down another hallway had suddenly come around the corner. They squealed with delight at Sakura's state of partial-dress while clutching their sketchbooks, notepads, and even cameras.

Uchiha Sasuke knew nothing of yuri. But one thing he knew for sure was his immediate dislike for the rabid enthusiasm in those young females. It truly harkened back to the olden days for him... Even their shrieks retained their banshee-level soprano.

Sasuke instinctively grabbed a hold of Sakura's hand, and began to run.

"Sasuke, a few of them are ninja themselves!" Sakura shouted.

He easily dismissed her warning. "I'm better than they are."

Sasuke pulled Sakura around a corner, and pinned her to the wall. The medic-nin was already too tired to be angry with him. She could already sense him cloaking both of their forms with an illusion, so at least he was of some help. Their forms blended into the dark shadows of the corridor. "Make your breathing quiet," Sasuke whispered. He felt Sakura's hair sweep against his neck, indicating a nod on her part. A morbid perfume of sweat and blood drifted into his nose, ensuring temporarily that his hormones wouldn't act up in this very close position.

One young teenager glanced around in the hallway, looking in vain where her idol had fled. "Oh... she got embarrassed and ran away," she moaned sorrowfully. She flipped open her sketchbook. "I _want_ her," — Sasuke grew rigid — "as a model," the girl finished, causing Sasuke to relax, while his pink-haired friend twitched for a reason unbeknownst to him.

One minute passed.

The girls were gone. Within that time of hiding, Sakura found herself buried in Sasuke's chest. She felt so tired, worn-out. And his comfortable hold was just too tempting...

"You could use a shower," Sasuke mentioned.

Wrong sentence. Sakura shoved him off.

"Of course I reek, you idiot; I just KILLED someone!" she snapped. The insulted medic-nin turned away, and strode down the corridor.

The Uchiha stared. 'She called me an idiot.' But other than that, he was a little startled with her attitude. Especially after her presumably first kill. She was upset, yes, but more on the side of annoyance.

Sasuke turned on his Sharingan to double-check if the person in front of him was really Haruno Sakura. Confirmed.

Sasuke also noticed two flickers of chakra further into the dark hallway, coming closer at an insane speed. Then he remembered: because there were so much betting in tournaments like these, undercover attacks on contestants by other ninja were not uncommon. And in this case, the target could only be his former teammate.

Sakura yelped when she felt two strong arms grab her, and pull her backward.

"Aren't you being too paranoid, Uchiha?" A Konoha jounin stepped into view, along with a chuunin. Sasuke recognized the latter as a fellow proctor during the written part of the Exams.

The chuunin proctor looked bewildered for a moment. "Um, Haruno-san... Are you and Uchiha..."

Sakura realized what it was. Sasuke's arms were locked around her torso. She nudged a little backward, mentally telling him to let go — but for some reason, her gesture only made him hold tighter. She finally elbowed his stomach.

The kunoichi flashed a brilliant smile to the two, while Sasuke behind her crouched slightly in pain. "Sasuke's just a close friend," she explained.

"I see." The jounin coughed. "Haruno-san, several members of the village council send you a private message in regards to the final round." He glanced at Sasuke — from the glare of the teenager's pitch-black eyes, the jounin knew instantly that he was not planning to leave. "Don't blab this out to others, Uchiha," the jounin warned.

"Your final opponent is from Sunagakure, the Hidden Sand," the chuunin proctor said. "The Kazekage himself showed interest that you keep going." He paused. "Will you continue, Haruno-san?"

"I'm going," Sakura said. 'It's not like I have a choice, anyway,' she thought, remembering the other Konoha-nin. 'I'm the only one representing the Leaf.'

"But you must be aware of your limits. And do not carry something like a sword in battle, because some viewers feel threatened. Especially those of the ruling class." The jounin breathed, gravity in his official report. "After watching your sword-dance, one daimyo went so far as to — ask the Hokage for your dead body."

Sakura was struck dumb.

"What?" Sasuke asked in a low monotone. His outrage only revealed itself in the curl of his lip. That kind of request came from enemy ninja at the brink of war — not daimyo!

"Naturally, Godaime-sama put it down." The jounin shook his head. "But several people inquired about that technique you used to pull out that broadsword. It was only a pompous lout who asked for your head... But it's clear that some of our most wealthy clients were upset."

Sakura sighed. "That was my mistake of judgment. I apologize."

Sasuke's black eyes narrowed. "What's so wrong with a sword?" he asked. "Ninja use them. They're killing tools."

"The official ninja villages, like Konohagakure, have restrictions when it comes to handling and possession of any type of feudal weapon, especially swords." The chuunin proctor snorted. "The aristocracy is used to the idea that they can defend themselves against ninja, using 'honorable' tools such as the sword and spear. If they see us shinobi using such weapons, they feel threatened, even though they technically hire us for protecting them."

Sasuke stared. There were _laws_ regulating large weapons in Konoha? No wonder almost all the tools of his clan were confiscated after the Massacre. Even though they were technically his by inheritance, he still had no access to them. Probably because he had been a minor back then. Now he was under close watch, so he as yet could not get them.

The jounin shrugged. "It makes sense for us ninja, too, when you think about it. Killing with a sword brings out more gore — and screaming — than a kunai or shuriken. Not very good for stealth. Thus, only trained jounin and the ANBU are allowed to have katana." He turned a serious eye at Sakura. "Hoshino Hirosuke, had he not died by your hands, would most certainly have been hunted down by hired thugs or assassins after this tournament. Many in the samurai-class are not fond of the idea that ninja can be just as skilled as they are in using 'beautiful' and 'honorable' weapons like swords."

"It shows how much pride the feudal lords and their subjects have in their abilities as swordsman," the chuunin muttered. "It's a legacy of their past military strength, before ninjutsu developed into what it is today."

Sasuke now understood. Ninja were known to use shuriken and kunai, as they were light and easily hidden. Poison made them even more effective. But the actual laws that restricted use of feudal weapons served the villages politically, by making the daimyo feel as if they kept some military independence. Sakura, by taking Hirosuke's sword and using it to slay him in public (no matter how half-assed she did it) was a stab in the back for the daimyo (only figuratively, but the implications were strong enough).

A tense silence hung between the four.

Sakura exhaled. "Oh, well."

Sasuke would have toppled over in shock, were it not for his improved sense of balance. There were probably three thugs around each corner waiting to cut off her pretty little head! "That's ALL you say?" he asked Sakura, only a drop of fury in his breath.

Sakura turned to him. The curled smile on her lips was almost... seductive. "Sasuke, you're one of the _greatest_ ninja in Konoha," she said. "Would you be my escort until the final match? It'll be thirty whole minutes, but I promise not to be a burden."

The kunoichi, despite her facial expression, inwardly sweated. 'This MUST work,' Sakura's updated Logic insisted. The cold Uchiha Sasuke was immune to female wiles; that much was certain to her. But there was one thing he absolutely could not resist. Praise for his genius in the Shinobi Arts. He _thrived_ on it. And she now held it out to his starved ego, like offering fresh meat to a stray dog.

Sasuke felt his defenses crumbling. He was at a loss. If he refused, he would be guilty of both disregarding Sakura's safety, and admitting that he was not good enough as her bodyguard. And her pleading eyes were so...

"...Fine."

"Yes!" Sakura squealed. She hugged her friend's arm briefly, before yanking it and leading him to one hallway. "I can finally go to the locker room and change out of these bloody pants..."

She did not see Sasuke grit his teeth. He was following her from behind, after all.

'What have I gotten myself into?' Sasuke wondered.

* * *

A brown-haired, handsome, young adult male gracefully made his way up the stadium steps. Shinto robes billowed around him. A long bow with a quiver of arrows were slung around his shoulders, ready for use.

Minoru cautiously touched his slightly-pointed ears, and sighed. He allowed part of his elfin appearance to leak out for this mission: it simply too painful for his aura system to hold it in all the time in Konohagakure. A second reason was that he had to look completely different than his previous disguise as a human woman. He had a nagging suspicion that one little girl in the Forest of Death had recognized him as male (he had felt a brief flutter of adoration before she tried to brutally stab him), so cross-dressing wasn't an option in this village anymore. His open neck and straight shoulders definitely marked him as a man. If anybody was curious enough to inquire about his ears, he attributed them to a birth defect.

Minoru went so far as to concoct a temporary hair-coloring potion: it concealed any vestige of his normal blond, and replaced it with chestnut-brown hair. The locks still waved and shone, but it was a good change. Even his eyebrows and eyelashes transformed accordingly.

Uchiha Itachi, the man who had not the slightest drop of feeling in him, had actually _advised_ Minoru not to come here again. Such tournaments were a bore anyway (at least in Itachi's opinion), and security was stronger than usual because of all the nobility and foreigners in attendance.

Minoru ignored it, reasoning to himself that they wouldn't care about his presence as an outside shrine worker, as long as he didn't carry any concealed short-range weapons. The guards had bodily searched him already.

If he messed this up, he would be killed for sure. Financially, at least.

The supposed-brunet held his breath, and strode towards the two guards.

"Halt," one jounin ordered. "What gives you the right to come to the private box of the Hokage and Kazekage?"

"Greetings to you, gentleman," Minoru said. "I have come to humbly ask a brief audience with the Hokage."

The curtain of the box opened, revealing an irritated buxom woman. "No requests!" Tsunade shouted. She was still miffed about that note asking for her apprentice's death. If another person asked for something as dumb, she would give them a lecture followed by a beating, no matter how much money they had. "If any missions, I want intelligent ones, and NOT DURING THE TOURNAMENT!"

Tsunade stilled at the man's attire. A shrine worker. Armed with a bow. 'Does he want to purify the stadium? If he has poison on his arrows and tries to poke me, I'll kill him.' She then realized how difficult that action might be, since his handsome face had a stunning similarity to her deceased lover, Dan. 'Shit. Calm down, Tsunade. He's probably years younger than you.'

The priest's apprentice was a little shocked at her display of temper — but Minoru pushed it down with a good-natured smile. "In truth, good Lady," the elf said smoothly, "I am not here to request a mission. I was wondering whether you' would be interested to join a betting circle, which I have organized amidst some other spectators."

The guards nearby began to sweat at the word 'betting'. "Um, Hokage-sama..."

"Be quiet," Tsunade snapped at them. "Continue," she quietly ordered Minoru, her voice turning a few notches down.

Minoru pulled out a paper, and pointed to the charts. "These people," he said, his finger under a list of five names of daimyo, "bet that Haruno Sakura will lose the match." Seeing that he possessed her full attention, Minoru sighed with a note of disappointment. "As you can see, nobody has yet put money on her actually _winning_ the tournament."

Tsunade's eyes turned into slits — yet an excited gleam flashed in their hazel orbs. She pulled the curtain a bit, and leaned over to look at Gaara. "Kazekage-dono. Would you be the judge for such a wager?" she asked.

Gaara slowly turned his cloaked head, and planted a scrutinizing gaze on Minoru.

The elf felt a sudden chill. This red-haired teenager was the leader of a whole ninja village — and he had demonic blood-lust in him. 'But it's not all from his own soul,' Minoru thought. 'It's as if he's containing a monster, and his own psyche holds it down...' He almost laughed. 'The Kage are interesting. One is a human unicorn, and the other is a demon-vessel.'

"Very well," Gaara intoned. "I will act as the judge."

"Good!" Tsunade brushed a hand over the jewel-like mark on her forehead. "A thousand ryou that she wins."

"Really?" Minoru asked. "I rather bet two thousand ryou that she _gives up_," he offered.

The Hokage smirked. "Gives up? Then I put down FOUR thousand."

The guards looked on anxiously. "Hokage-sama, you shouldn't..."

"Five thousand." Minoru's seemingly-green eyes twinkled.

Tsunade was already turned on. "Six thousand."

"Then I'll go seven thousand," the priest's apprentice said.

"Eight thousand," Tsunade returned. She carefully studied Minoru. "How would you possess that much money with your occupation?" she asked smugly, hoping to touch a nerve and thus incline him to up the wager.

"Exorcism services," Minoru answered, unruffled in the slightest. "TEN thousand."

"Twelve thousand!" Tsunade put down.

* * *

Sasuke's mouth went dry.

"No bloodstains, right?" Sakura asked hopefully.

That wasn't the point, Sasuke thought. His former teammate was still in her fishnet shirt and bra. Her baggy pants were gone, replaced by black bike shorts. The shuriken holster and kunai packs were around her right thigh as always.

Several leather items encircled her left leg, holding an array of ninja tools ranging from scrolls to antidotes. "What are THOSE?" Sasuke asked, an edge to his voice.

"These?" Sakura pointed at the black leather straps. "Kunoichi-garters. I wear them all the time; you just never see them under the trousers."

Sasuke's fists tightened. Did she just imply that she dropped her pants whenever she needed extra supplies?

"Don't you feel _cold_?" he rasped out.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Of course. I shouldn't do the bare mid-rift thing in fall — lowers your immune system to half of its strength! — but I didn't bring an extra shirt with me." She re-checked her items, making sure they were all securely in place. Her hand slapped her bare shoulder to make the blood flow, and perhaps loosen her mind.

_"Finalists, please proceed to the entrance to the arena,"_ the loudspeakers crackled through the locker rooms. _"Your match is in five minutes."_

"Sakura."

Sakura turned to her bodyguard. "What?"

Sasuke's fingers combed uneasily through his raven hair. "You... don't have to do this."

The pink-haired genin gave a soft smile. "I know. But since I'm the only finalist from Konoha, I feel obliged to." She gave a small laugh. "Even if I don't get promoted, I'll still do my part." She turned towards the door.

Sasuke grasped her wrist. She halted, and looked at him.

"Promise me that you won't overdo it," Sasuke breathed. He felt a helpless anxiety as he saw her off. He did not want the pain of seeing someone close to him die in his sight — not again. He was not going to release her unless she promised.

Sakura could not move. She could not even struggle. It was like his natural scent paralyzed her. "I..."

"Promise me," he repeated.

Sakura gingerly nodded. "I promise." With that, she slipped away.

* * *

Sakura's feet brushed onto the field. She turned to the referee.

"Who are you?" she asked. She recognized the Sand insignia on his hitai-ate. "Where's the real referee?"

"I'm replacing him," the jounin said curtly. "He ran into a little trouble when he violated the referee code."

Sakura's green eyes turned hard. "In what way?"

"He talked to you," he said.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "You're talking to me now..."

"To be specific, he offered you advice during the match," the jounin said. "A referee is neutral. Nothing else. He said something to you along the lines of 'drop the sword', right?"

Sakura inwardly cursed. Not wanting to brood on the matter of where Kakashi was, she turned her sight onto her opponent.

He was a Suna-nin, nineteen years old, with brown hair and purple eyes. An ivory bandanna covered his head — perhaps to minimize the sun from beating down on his brown hair in his hometown, but most probably because it looked good on him.

"Rival village, rival opponent," Ishino Yuuki said. "Don't take it easy on me."

"I throw those words right back at you," Sakura said, her lips curving in a good-natured smile. She looked to the stands, and saw some people tossing items over the edge. Squinting, the medic-nin recognized the items to be bouquets of flowers.

Ishino Yuuki turned to the referee. "Why are they giving us bouquets _now_?" he asked. "Can't they wait until after the match?"

"It's customary at every final match of the Chuunin Exams," the jounin said. "They want to give you their compliments before you possibly die."

The genin looked at him. They realized he wasn't joking.

"And no, there aren't hidden items or extra weapons in those flowers. They sifted through them before." The referee raised his hand. The voices of the stands cleared. "Ishino Yuuki versus Haruno Sakura." He swung his arm down. "Go!"

Yuuki began making hand-seals. Sakura did likewise, although with a visibly shorter equation.

Yuuki shot out his folded hands. 'Fuuton—' He blinked, and crossed his arms.

His opponent from Konoha appeared in front of him with a burst of petals. She hit both of his shoulders with two strong hands. The blow was strong; he skidded backwards on his feet. Sakura did not stop there. She kicked and punched him in critical places as he tried to guard himself from the sudden attack, and then finished it with a throw. He flew a long distance, the ground mercilessly tearing up his jacket.

Sakura panted. That had taken a lot of energy; she had to finish this now. She molded chakra in her system once more. Her eyes then misted over with glints of sand in the air — they hurt.

The kunoichi gasped in realization. Sakura clapped her hands together. 'Kai!' The sand crystals disappeared from her vision, confirming that they had only been an illusion. But there was something else.

She looked at the ground. Two enormous centipedes erupted out of the earth, and rush towards her feet. One of them sank its jaws into her ankle. Sakura cried out in pain, and kicked it off.

Sakura blinked. Why did her ankle hurt, while the rest of her body felt tingly? Poison didn't spread this fast. She snapped her fingers together again.

"Kai!" she hissed. In a haze of sand, the centipedes and the hole from which they came disappeared. It turned out that Yuuki had cast a double-illusion, one on top of the other.

Uchiha Sasuke, sitting in the box previously occupied by competitor genin, looked on the match with slight amusement. Yuuki and Sakura were tied in genjutsu skills. Each could predict and recognize an illusion, and erased its effects. Not necessarily early enough, as both received damage — Yuuki had more offensive genjutsu, Sakura focused more on distraction-types — but they were fair opponents.

'And he hasn't used any ninjutsu yet,' Sasuke noted. 'If that's all he can do, it's over. Sakura's taijutsu is thorough.'

The Konoha-nin and the Suna-nin glared at each other, twenty meters between them. 'Damn,' Sakura thought. 'I don't have enough chakra for a Kanashibari. And even if I did, I don't know if it would be fully effective on him. '

Yuuki relaxed his frustrated face, and began to sheepishly laugh. Sakura's eyes narrowed.

"Wow, I had no idea that someone could throw off me in genjutsu," he said. "It's my specialty, too. And a girl beats me in taijutsu. Kinda embarrassing." He laughed at himself, finding his predicament immensely funny and ironic.

Sakura made a stance. "Are you saying you're giving up?"

Yuuki chuckled down into a relaxed sigh. "No, not at all!" he cheerfully shot back.

His left hand curled into one hand-seal, while his right hand curled, as if holding a sphere.

Sakura instilled chakra in her legs, and sprinted towards Yuuki. Tie or no tie, she still had the upper hand in taijutsu. One blow was enough. "It's over!" she shouted, five meters away from him.

Yuuki shot his curled hand outward.

Sakura felt her body pushed back — hard. She felt something akin to a fist sink into her sternum, where the lower ribs met. She went flying. 'WHAT?'

Sakura's body tumbled and rolled on the ground. Each turn gave her a shot of pain in her ribcage, making it difficult for her to breathe.

The Konoha-nin lay on her stomach.

The referee walked towards the limp figure.

Sasuke's jaw tightened. 'That jutsu...'

The kunoichi gradually picked herself up. She managed to get into a crouched, sitting position. Standing up was not good in her current condition. She looked at Yuuki from a distance.

A painful cough erupted from Sakura. Blood came out of her mouth. She breathed irregularly.

Yuuki shook his head. "I have two more shots. I might kill you on either one." He curled his arms again.

"What kind of ninjutsu is that?" Sakura yelled out. Her voice halted in a lurch; some blood was seeping in her lungs. That blow, whatever it was, had broken one rib. She cradled the bone with one arm, and powered up her other hand with a warm, green glow. 'Chiyute no Jutsu.'

"Didn't see it, did you?" Yuuki asked. He gave a smile. "That's the whole POINT." He looked in interest at Sakura's self-healing. "Ah, you're a medic-nin? Impressive that you can diagnose yourself correctly in that state of confusion." He curled his hands in the same way he did before. "But it won't make any difference."

Sasuke's eyes burned red. This did not look good. Yuuki and Sakura were tied in genjutsu, yes. And Sakura was definitely better in taijutsu. But her taijutsu was a short-range style — it required the user to be _close_ to the opponent. 'Sakura's initial attack worked, because all matches start with the contestants ten meters away from each other,' Sasuke remembered. 'Yuuki began preparing that attack while she was twenty meters away from him. And now the distance is thirty meters. If she doesn't get up and go closer, she's only a lame duck.'

Sakura, from her seated position, unclipped a scroll from her leg. 'All I know,' she thought, 'is that he's using a long-distance ninjutsu. There definitely was an expenditure of chakra; it melted off immediately after I was hit.'

The kunoichi stood up, her fingers carefully poking her rib area to see if she healed it right: it seemed correct. She felt the texture on her clothing. Many threads of her fishnet ninja shirt were ripped in one circular area, making a gaping hole under her breasts. And her bra felt weird — was its material this smooth and awkwardly _thin_ the last time she took it out of the wash?

She fingered the scroll in her hands. Her eyes fell on the hand-seal Yuuki made. 'That seal is usually associated with...'

Sakura looked at the bouquets around her. An idea occurred.

She flicked her thumb with a flame of chakra like a cigarette lighter, and touched the scroll's wax-seal.

Sasuke quickly identified the scroll. After all, he had prepared it. 'Burn him to a crisp, Sakura,' he thought smugly. 'He deserves it for hurting you.'

The kunoichi suddenly dropped the jutsu-scroll, as if it had scalded her. She looked at her gloved hands — a ghastly green hue touched the skin around her wrists. 'Shit! Not NOW!'

Yuuki aimed his hand at her. "Second strike!"

Sakura picked up the scroll, and set it in her teeth. She made three hand-seals.

Sasuke pounded his fist into the wall, releasing the built-up chakra in his system. A dent caved into the sheet metal. 'I TOLD her that just one seal was enough to activate it!'

Yuuki released the jutsu. 'Fuuton: Kazadama!' (Wind-style: Air sphere)

Sakura blew out the scroll from her mouth. It dissolved in a burst of flame. 'Katon: Goukayuu no Jutsu!' (Fire-style: Grand Fireball Technique)

* * *

From a distance, Naruto watched the sphere of flames. "Gotta be Sasuke," he muttered. Hinata nodded.

* * *

Yuuki, suddenly realizing the danger he was in, jumped away from his spot. An enormous fireball burst in front of him. 'Wind country against Fire Country. How ironic is that?' Had he not moved, he would certainly be charcoal now.

Sakura gasped at the expenditure of chakra. For just a brief moment, she saw a hole in the mass of fire. A whooshing sound passed her. And then there was a large bam.

She turned around, and saw a small crack in the arena wall. 'So that's it.' She picked up a tattered bouquet. Her fingers dug into the flower-tops, and plucked them.

'Damn, this is too much,' Yuuki thought, feeling the level of chakra inside him. 'But that was the only scroll on her body.' Sakura appeared again in his vision. The flames were already dying on the arena sand, leaving tiny spots of glass cooling between them.

"Sorry to _burst your bubble,_" Sakura seethed. "But I've seen through your jutsu. The next one, I'll pass."

Yuuki whipped his arms in position. "Just try!" he called out. "You may have survived it by healing yourself, and then using one jutsu-scroll. But you don't have enough chakra left." The air around his arm grew turbulent. "You've realized that you can't see this attack. That's what makes it so terrifying and effective."

Sakura's green eyes stared hard. Her hands flicked into a jutsu, and she blew.

A wisp of pink touched Yuuki's cheek. Flower petals danced in the air around him. "Nice TRY," he rumbled, "but such a weak genjutsu won't stop this attack's accuracy." He shot his right hand forward, and released. 'Fuuton: Kazadama!'

The kunoichi stood calmly as the jutsu came. 'The flowers,' she told herself. 'Concentrate on the flowers!'

Suddenly, the flowers petals were sucked into one concentrated sphere like a vacuum, and went flying towards Sakura. Her green eyes caught the object. 'I can see it!' The kunoichi threw forward a last, chakra-infused punch. The strike ruptured the ball of air. A gust of wind and crumbled flowers swept over her.

Yuuki stood frozen. His opponent was still standing. His chakra was drained.

"THIS IS THE END!" Sakura shouted, running towards him. The medic-nin raised her arm for a punch.

Yuuki saw her fist closing in on his face. His eyes shut for the impact.

Silence.

He carefully opened his purple eyes. Sakura's gloved hand was five centimeters from his nose.

She lowered her fist against the sweating teenager. She raised her hand. "I QUIT."

The jounin, after getting out of stupor, raised his hand. "Wi-winner," he called out. "Ishino Yuuki."

There was uproar in the stands.

Yuuki stared at the smiling face of Sakura. "WHAT?" he whispered out. "How did you..."

She tightened her ponytail. "Your attack was a concentrated ball of air." Yuuki's jaw dropped. Sakura looked at him, and continued, "What's the official name? Kaze... no tama?"

"Kazadama," he corrected. Still, he was impressed how close she came. "But how did you _realize_ that it was a ball of air? You can't see it!"

"I felt it," Sakura said, rubbing her stomach. "Knocked the wind out of me, if you know what I mean." She giggled. No laugh came from Yuuki; he was too bewildered. "Oh, you actually want to know," she said. "Okay... um... First, I took the first shot, and healed myself. I figured out the nature of your attack by looking at the hand-seal you used."

She curled her hands, similar to the one Yuuki used in his power-up. "This seal is always used in any Fuuton — wind-style — jutsu." She picked up the remains of Sasuke's scroll. "With the second shot, I defended myself with a stored Goukakyuu no Jutsu, which was also an elemental technique. It didn't guard me fully — fire is more into offense than defense — but it pushed away your wind-attack enough to miss me." She paused, briefly thanking Sasuke. "There was something weird, though, when the two clashed. There was a brief hole in the mass of fire. Then a jet of air passed me, and a crack formed in the wall behind. That's when I realized that your attack was a cluster of air, concentrated enough to act as a solid ball."

Yuuki stared.

Sakura gave an embarrassed cough. "Anyway, I figured that I couldn't take another. As you said, nobody can see a ball of air." She picked up one tattered bouquet. "However, one can see the _wind_ at certain times, like when cherry blossoms are picked up during the spring. While that Goukakyuu was still burning and hid me, I took a pink bouquet and ripped off the petals. Then, when you prepared your third Kazadama, I used a practice version of a wind-jutsu to scatter the petals around you. They acted as a marker when all that air got crammed together, and so I could see it."

The Suna-nin gulped. He remembered that he quickly attributed Sakura's flower petals to an illusion, as they were not natural in the season of autumn. But he had forgotten the cultivated flowers which the fans tossed into the arena. His experience of genjutsu, as it turned out, misled him instead of guided him.

"So..." Yuuki glanced at the spectators. "Why did you give up?"

"I'm exhausted," Sakura groaned. "It'll take more than one punch to knock you out. And I'm not aspiring for a promotion. The only reason I went this far is because the other shinobi from Konoha were out."

Yuuki blinked. "Just because you lose doesn't mean you stay as a genin," he mentioned. "They score you according to performance and strategy."

Sakura shrugged. "But I also was reckless at times." Remembering handshake etiquette, Sakura peeled off her glove, and offered a clean hand. Yuuki paused, and hesitantly shook it. "I killed one ally of Konoha in the last match. Even though it's allowed in a tournament like this, it would be diplomatic hell if I did it again."

Yuuki quickly released his hand from hers. "Indeed."

The jounin-referee pulled him away from Sakura. "Good job, you two," he grunted. He turned to Yuuki, and said in a low voice, "Now let's get the hell out of here."

* * *

A merry grin danced on Minoru's face. "Well, Kazekage-dono?"

"She gave up," Gaara stated. He looked at Tsunade. "Pay it."

Keeping in a shriek of frustration, the Hokage reached for something underneath her chair. A small metal box slid out. She unclasped it, and displayed the contents to Minoru. Bundles of fresh, genuine bills were there. "Twenty thousand ryou, as promised."

The jounin sweated. She had been keeping a stash of money hidden under her chair, _all this time?_

Minoru nodded as he flipped through the bills. Satisfied with their quality and lack of any mysterious powder (he had antidotes along, just in case), he closed the box, and stepped out of the room.

He stilled for a moment as he pulled back the curtain. He looked back at the Godaime. "It has been a pleasure during business with you, my Lady." With subtle grace, the priest's apprentice blew Tsunade a kiss, and disappeared behind the curtain.

The Hokage turned back in her seat. "Kids these days," she muttered.

Still, a feint smile touched her lips. She hadn't had such fine company in ages.

* * *

Notes:

"yuri" - means 'lily', but the word is also associated with "shoujo-ai" (literally translated as 'girl-love'), which delves into intense girl-girl relationships in manga and anime.

"Kazekage-dono" - means 'Lord Kagekage'. "Tono" is the noun for 'lord', while the suffix "-dono" is used in addressing the person.

"ryou" - according to Kishimoto in chapter 150, one ryou is approximately ten yen, around ten cents. So 20,000 ryou is 200,000 yen, or 2,000 dollars.

"Kazadama" - I took this from "Flame of Recca", one of Fuuko's attacks.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	23. Hospital Woes

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own "Three to Tango." I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

I have come to a realization that my interpretation of Sasuke's name "Uchiha" was wrong. It is NOT the summer-fan. At least, not exactly. The noun of the summer-fan is "uchiwa", while Sasuke's family-name is "Uchiha". The fact that the Uchiha emblem is in the shape of a summer-fan confused me, and I apologize. Thanks to the knowledgeable reader named Mint, my Japanese has been corrected. The words have been edited in the previous chapters, and everything is clean regarding Sasuke's name.

I'm now trying to figure out why Kishimoto-sensei had that name, Uchiha, especially when "Uzumaki" itself is a real Japanese noun (it means 'whirlpool'). My best guess is that because, if Kishimoto had really named him "Uchiwa Sasuke", some people might be confused, because the similar-sounding sentence "Uchi wa Sasuke" means 'I am Sasuke' in an effeminate tone of voice. (Well, he _is_ pretty...) Only Kishimoto-sensei would know for sure why.

About Minoru and Tsunade: if there's anything between them, it's up to the reader's imagination. I can see them clicking — Tsunade might be a little more eager if she knew his true age. What's _definitely_ clear is that Minoru knew about Tsunade's gambling addition, and took full advantage of it for purely lucrative pursuits.

Some readers who were great fans of "Dimensional Exchanges" have been wondering about the pace of "Beyond Hearts and Minds", asking whether I can write any faster. Wow, such enthusiasm! Sadly, the truth is that this story's chapters are twice as long those of its predecessors (in word number, not necessarily the pace). "Beyond Hearts and Minds" is more difficult for me to write, as there's more action and more emotion that I have to describe — not only finding the right words, but also the courage to show certain scenes that are strange, maybe even horrific. Each chapter takes four days at the computer to write. (And don't even remind me of editing. I never stop editing.) I have a life to live, and my dear best friend has told me that although he admires me for almost everything I do, I should take better care of myself. So I'm saying this again: I'm writing this story for my own enjoyment. If I feel rushed, well... the story might end up run-of-the-mill quality. And I don't want that to happen.

Mint: thank you! I first read your question wrong; now I know what you meant. I edited the mistakes.

Insomnia's Phone Number: thank you for pointing out the typo. I corrected it immediately. It's so hard to find mistakes in one's own work, and I'm always grateful when readers point them out.

x

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

-Writing-

(( Flashback ))

x

Chapter 23: Hospital Woes

* * *

At the tournament's unexpected finish, reactions from the audience were varied.

A relieved and giddy Hinata clapped enthusiastically. "That was so wonderful!" Hinata squealed. A pretty flush of excitement kissed her cheeks. She hugged Naruto's arm. "She might have given up the fight, but that was the better decision!"

Naruto raised his eyebrow at her odd reaction, and then smiled. 'Typical Hinata,' he thought. The blond suddenly felt glares of daggers come in his direction — or rather, towards his girlfriend. From the corner of his eye, Naruto saw a few stern looks of Hyuuga towards their own heiress, obviously irritated with her opinion of less fighting. Hinata noticed them as well, and almost squeaked in fright.

"What are you looking at?" Naruto challenged them. They turned away, a little miffed that the former prankster was now protecting Hinata.

"She. That. No!" Hanabi pointed a shaking finger at the arena. "Victory was right in front of her!"

Angry at Sakura's forfeit, Hanabi almost ripped out her black hair. The gesture itself was something very un-Hyuuga-like indeed, as almost all of its members, no matter what rank they were in, kept a strict family tradition.

To have their hair look cool wherever they went.

Hinata was sort of the deviant in this manner, both in personality and style. She had preferred her hair short ever since she was a little girl. When her fifteenth year rolled around the corner, Hinata had wondered whether she could let her hair grow a little longer, maybe to please her father. At the fifth centimeter, her hair rebelled — in a very adorable manner, one might add. She didn't even know that her hair could naturally layer like that. Hinata thought it would be short-lived: albeit nice-looking, it was far different from the classic beauty of the traditional style of the clan.

(( Hinata sighed, looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her shaking hand, armed with a pair of scissors, slowly advanced on the dark-blue strands. 'I might as well get it back to normal now...'

"Hinata, what in the _world_ are you doing?"

The scissors froze, a breadth of a finger away. Hinata spotted her father's reflection in the mirror.

"Uh... um..." Hinata mumbled. "I'm cutting it back."

"You mean like before?" Hiashi asked, a note of annoyance in his voice. "Why?"

"My hair... isn't completely straight."

"And?" Hiashi impatiently waited for an answer when she was silent.

She gulped. "I... can't grow it out long, like you."

Hiashi paused. A frown traced his lips. "The layering was a trait of your mother," he said. "Keep it that way. No shorter, no longer."

"B-but—"

"KEEP IT THAT WAY."

A stun went through Hinata. "Yes, Otou-sama," she answered him. Her father majestically strode out of the room. ))

Hinata wasn't sure, but she had the strange feeling that her father was protecting her behind her back. Hiashi spoke to her more often, and the little 'orders' he gave Hinata did not seem like obligations. When the other clan elders were making comments on her — whether it was because of her hair, or her obsession with herbal medicines, or her recent escapades to areas that looked like a monster had torn through (which, in fact, was exactly what happened) — Hiashi refrained from relaying them to her ears. He turned a blind eye so often that even Hinata worried that her father's image as a clan leader might be weakening.

"Haruno-san was so ruthless in the Forest!" Hanabi cried out. "And she just _drops_ this chance to become chuunin?"

"Not necessarily," Hinata said. "The promotions for chuunin in these exams are based on the amount of strategy displayed, as well as composure during bad situations."

"That's why Neji and I weren't promoted on our first attempt," said Naruto. Across his face spread a goofy smile, like that of an old sage. "Shikamaru also gave up, and I blew up at him."

(( Naruto shot his finger at Shikamaru. "Idiot!" he shouted.

"Shut up, Super-Idiot!" Shikamaru retorted. ))

"He was the only one who became chuunin in that session. The sly bum." Naruto shook his head. "The same thing could happen to Sakura-chan."

* * *

A daimyō from the Wind Country flushed red with anger. "This... this is outrageous!"

Several other feudal lords appeared as disgruntled. It turned out that Tsunade was not the only one who had come into the unfortunate predicament of entering a bet with Minoru.

The priest's apprentice coolly held up a document. "You all wagered here that Haruno Sakura would lose the match by unconsciousness or death." The pseudo-brunet traced his finger down the scroll. "I, however, accurately wagered that she would give up." Minoru glanced at a different group of lords. "And because _you_ wagered that she would win the match, you also lose."

"Haruno Sakura _did_ win!" one from the second group of daimyō argued. "She only let go of her opponent out of mercy — can't you see the _honor_ validating that?"

"She won the fight, but lost the match," Minoru answered. "And you agreed upon _your _honor that the end results would be what counted." He saw the lords twitch. Minoru turned to the guards, who were the witnesses to the gamble. "Am I correct?"

The shinobi reluctantly nodded.

Minoru's face brightened, and turned back to the daimyō. "Now the payments. Ten thousand ryou from each isn't so tragic, when you look at it from a larger perspective. The Hokage herself gave me twenty thousand."

* * *

After the tournament, Sasuke and Naruto were given the mission to help bodyguard a party with an awards ceremony. The party was expected, but the award-part was new. The reception was supposedly in honor of the surviving genin finalists, and everybody was required to 'dress formally'. Naruto and Sasuke dressed themselves in mostly black — the other guards forced them to at least wear white shirts, as they had to look like normal party guests.

The whole occasion had been set up quickly. The dancing already started two hours after the final match. Post-tournament parties were common, even dinners that lasted into the night. After all, the traffic of people coming out of Konohagakure was slow because of security efforts to protect (and observe) those who exited the village. Some people decided to leave quickly, like the daimyō; others wanted to relax and enjoy the time afterwards.

Yet a social gathering of this nature, Sasuke had never expected. It turned out that both yuri-enthusiasts and Sakura's lesbian fans came to this ceremony, and pretty much crowded the entire place. Sasuke usually liked to have good personal space — a circle of a three-meter diameter he was accustomed to. Here, his normal air-bubble was compromised.

Sasuke glowered in his punch cup. As a general rule, he loathed parties. He was only here because he was assigned as security. But what irked him most was that it was practically impossible to reach Sakura now. If the cold Uchiha ever enjoyed himself at a social gathering, the immediate proximity of her was an essential factor. Right now, the pink-haired genin was twenty meters away, closed in by a human blockade.

The raven-haired shinobi managed to catch a glimpse of his former teammate: Sakura was clean and proper, covered in that same tempting emerald dress she wore during the written exam. Fans crowded her in, no matter if they were lesbians, yuri fangirls, or just male admirers of Sakura's looks and fighting abilities (they didn't seem to care of her reputation as a lesbian; in fact, a few of them seemed to think it exciting and sexy). Sasuke could do nothing to move closer, unless he squeezed through people... as in, _touch_ them. Another undercover guard was near the pink-haired kunoichi, so some of her safety was ensured — but still, Sasuke wished that Sakura would make some effort to escape and come over to him.

'She could at least thank me for being her bodyguard earlier,' Sasuke grumbled to himself.

Naruto lightly punched his rival in the shoulder. "Hey, don't be such a sour pickle," he joked. "That scowl on your face ruins the atmosphere."

Sasuke took a sip of the red punch, and grimaced. "Carbonated sugar-water," he identified. He crushed the cup within his hands, and tossed the remains into the trashcan. "Disgusting."

"Wait until you try spiked punch," Naruto mumbled.

The ears of a nearby dancer perked up. "The punch is spiked?" she asked Naruto excitedly.

Naruto held up a warning hand. "No, that's not what I —"

"Booze in the west corner!" the girl shrieked.

The two ninja jumped and rolled out of the way of the incoming stampede.

Once they reached safe land, Sasuke turned to Naruto. "There really isn't alcohol in that stuff," Sasuke said. "...Is there?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, everything's still clean. I was talking about a different party. Jiraiya spiked the punch so that he could gather information more easily, and I accidentally took a cup. It was really gross."

Sasuke quietly sighed, relieved that he didn't ingest something that would impair his abilities as a ninja. "Still, we're going to have to deal with people who _think_ they're drunk," he pointed out. Tone-deaf singing burst from the table. "At least they're dumb enough for us to control."

"Think of it as a study of psychosomatic effects," Naruto said. "They think they're drunk, when they're not. It's fascinating to see what they do." He glanced at one couple, who were already making out under one of the tables. "Give them some slack, Sasuke. They just want to have a bit of fun."

"Pathetic," Sasuke mumbled. "Induced by liquor, which is nonexistent."

"Exactly!" Naruto chimed. "They have no risk of alcohol poisoning, yet still can enjoy themselves!"

Sasuke shook his head at Naruto's logic. A silence passed by between the two.

Sasuke then remembered something that had been bugging him all day. "Naruto," he said, looking at the stands of books in the opposite corner of the room, "what exactly is 'yuri'?"

Naruto choked on his drink. He immediately noticed the several looks of incredulous wonder shooting in their direction. For the first time in his life, he was embarrassed to be in Sasuke's presence. Ferocious giggles chimed from a few girls nearby.

The blond grabbed Sasuke by the arm, and dragged him off. One the way, Naruto'e eyes caught a stray comic book: he picked it up and shoved it in his pocket, before leading Sasuke into an alley.

"Did I say something wrong?" Sasuke asked irritably, flinging off Naruto's grip.

The blond shinobi crossed his arms. "Sasuke," he said, "did you pay attention to Iruka-sensei when he went over sex ed?"

"Yes," Sasuke said through grit teeth, trying to look mature as he remembered. "Kakashi also tried to give me 'the talk.' He offered to lend me his Icha Icha series — that's when I escaped."

"What about Orochimaru?" Naruto asked, his face grave. "You can always talk to me if —"

"He did nothing, you pervert!" Sasuke snarled.

"Okay, okay, sheesh. I was just worried about you." Naruto pulled out the comic book from his pocket, and handed it to Sasuke. "This is what is called 'yuri.' Read it thoroughly or flip through it, I don't care. You'll figure it out."

* * *

Minoru quietly stepped through a dark alleyway. He knew this was a shortcut towards the hospital that would avoid the crowd of exiting spectators. He had some last rites for the dead to perform.

Unfortunately, it seemed like a few spectators decided to follow him. Minoru could smell the greed through the musty air of this alleyway. The priest's apprentice turned around. "What do you require?" he asked smoothly.

Three men in commoner's garb sneered. "He's a pretty-boy. And those daimyō were so friggin' scared."

Minoru raised an eyebrow. "I suppose you goons were hired by daimyō to take back the money," Minoru said. "Logical, as the ninja of this village would not take such an inane mission."

"Just had us yer money!" one snarled.

Minoru smiled as the men charged. The elf dodged one fist. A knife came towards his face — Minoru caught the wrist, and twisted the weapon away from the man. Meanwhile, his leg tripped both of them.

Another attacker ran at Minoru from behind, swinging up a rusting pipe to crush his head. The elf's body spun around, and his right hand whipped sideways; the stolen knife split his opponent's makeshift club in two.

"Only because I work at a shrine," Minoru grunted, slamming him into the wall, "does not mean I am incapable of defending myself."

The other two scrambled up. "You pointy-eared freak!"

Minoru disappeared in a blur. He reappeared before the two, crouching down, and delivered each a rising punch to their jaws. They fell back in pain. The elf snapped his fingers: two vines shot out underneath the men, and caught them with tight holds.

Tendrils blindfolded the men, and gnarly branches stuffed into their mouths before screams could erupt. Minoru had to keep this fight's volume of noise to a minimum — after all, this was a ninja village, and attracting attention while he was in Shinto-garb was the last thing he wanted to do.

Within ten seconds, the two men went limp in the mess of tendrils.

Minoru whispered a few words, ordering the vines to let go and disappear back into the ground.

"Simplistic idiots. The women judged the ears to be cute."

* * *

Brownish water dripped into a dungeon. Dark fog of miasma hung in sheets in the air, weaving through the prison cells. Moans and shrieks reverberated off the ethereal walls. Amidst the prisoners, distinguishing human wretches from full-blown monsters was almost impossible.

A crystal of the largest proportion stood at the center of the prison, glowing with many colors. Like an obelisk, writings full of power and history covered its sides in an otherworldly language.

A figure stepped out from the pole's glowing shadow. A man, appearing in his thirties, haggardly breathed. An old, moth-eaten kimono was the only thing covering his naked body. His skin was covered in dirt and decay. Bleached white hair tumbled down his shoulders in knots, hardened mud tangling the locks.

He swallowed, temporarily clearing his throat. He had to get out of this abandoned prison soon, rife with demons and tortured souls. Yes, the place surrounded him was something that some humans might label a purgatory. It had not always been in this disgusting condition. Once a temporary haven for lost souls who desperately wanted to wait for loved ones before going to the next life, this spiritual space was now a complete hellhole, taken over by other beings and used as a prison for their own sadistic pleasures. For some reason, the obelisk retained a sliver of holy power, but it was no match for the youki which penetrated the building.

The half-naked man, gasping for some real air, touched the crystal surface of the tower. "Show me where Hoshino Hirosuke is," he ordered.

The surface of the obelisk shone for a moment. Then, the image of a bloodied young man appeared. The white-haired man stilled, noticing the sword wounds on Hirosuke. 'Oh well,' he thought.

He cleared his throat. "Attack tonight," he ordered. "Bring back the Hardened Soul. Kill the priestess, and anybody else who gets in your way."

A frothy bubble sounded from within the crystal, indicating compliance.

* * *

Naruto sympathetically patted Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke, for the last ten minutes, was in such a mental freeze that his back was glued on a column for support. That graphic novel had given him a sharper image of exactly what Sakura wanted from other women, and he began to suffer the onset of depression.

There was a tap at the microphone. "Ehem, excuse me. Hello." The speaker, a beautiful woman with a haughty demeanor and crisp clothes, managed to hush the crowd down. "First of all, we thank again the village of Konohagakure to sponsor this wonderful party..."

Naruto nudged his teammate with an elbow. "Sasuke!"

"What?" the Uchiha murmured, still shell-shocked.

"Look at Sakura-chan, damn you!" Naruto hissed. "Don't you think she looks kinda bad?"

Sasuke blinked. Now that he observed her from a distance, he realized that Sakura kept on darting her eyes towards the exit. Her hands fidgeted like gerbils on caffeine.

"And now, we present a special award to Haruno Sakura-san," the woman said. "As we know, she is representing a very special set of people in our community. I, as the president of the Yuri Fanclub of the Fire Country, am proud to present Haruno-san as this year's lesbian role model!"

Cheers came with a loud applause. Sakura visibly blanched. She was dragged by a fangirl towards the podium, where a prize figurine awaited her.

Sasuke straightened himself. Depression flew away, replaced by concern suspicion. He carefully made his way closer to the Sakura. Annoyance towards those he dubbed 'the ignorant masses' simmered within him. Didn't they realize Sakura was struck with terror? It could have been only stage fright, but the raven-haired ninja kept his mind open for other possibilities. "Watch out for snipers," he said into his headpiece. "I'll get in closer."

"I'll go to the left side, Sasuke," Naruto relayed, his voice covered by whoops and cheers in the background. He glanced in and around, looking for a glint of a kunai or senbon. 'So there was an award like this,' Naruto thought. 'No wonder they assigned this much security. The fangirl mob could cause a stampede.'

Sakura gulped in front of the microphone. Her green eyes locked onto the little statue near her sweating hand. Her fingers were shaking. The kunoichi let her eyes sift through the crowd full of admirers and fellow ninja. This wasn't supposed to happen. Or at least, Sakura never imagined in her wildest dreams that the rumors could go this far.

She exhaled. "I would like to say that I feel very... honored to be offered this award." Claps and squeals of adoration came from the audience.

The Uchiha paused in thought. Sakura had said she was 'honored to _be offered_ this award.' She could have said 'honored to _receive _this award', as was customary. There was a slight difference in wording between the two sentences. But the former implied that she could still refuse it.

Sasuke shook his head. No, it was his imagination and that strange voice in his head leading him astray. Concentrate again on Sakura's safety.

"In fact," Sakura breathed, "_Were_ I any lesbian, I _would_ say this to be... one of the happiest moments in my life." She took care to emphasize the subjunctive verbs.

Sasuke now felt the suspicion leak into him again. Did Sakura just say what he thought she said?

The kunoichi swallowed. She looked at a certain young man dressed in spandex in the audience, who was still beaming for her. "Lee-san, thank you. And I'm sorry that you went through so much trouble for me."

"No problem at all, Sakura-san!" the beautiful green beast shouted.

Sakura nodded. She then turned a serious eye back onto the audience. "I must say right now that I cannot accept this," she announced with a clear voice. The party hushed in confusion. "Doing so would not be fair."

Naruto stared. As realization struck him, his mouth turned upward in a fox-like grin. 'Holy crap, Sasuke is going to flip...'

"The truth is," — Sakura huffed — "I AM NOT A LESBIAN."

A few gasps of shock, and murmurs, reverberated through the room.

"I'm very sorry," Sakura tagged at the end. She bolted from the podium. Taking advantage of the stun in the crowd, the kunoichi made her way through without interruption and escaped the building.

* * *

Sakura stumbled over the stone steps, guilt and exhaustion weighing her down. The entire day had depleted her energy reserves, not to mention her sanity. Fighting in four solo matches, fangirls chasing her, and now the disastrous awards ceremony — most people would not consider this a normal set of duties.

Sakura bumped into what felt like solid wall. It was Sasuke. He was clothed stylishly in black, had his arms crossed, with a very firm look of disapproval cemented on his face. Slightly frightened, the kunoichi sidestepped to circle around him. He only stepped along, blocking her.

"Sasuke, please get out of the way." The Uchiha did not comply.

"What the HELL were you thinking?" Sasuke asked, his voice steeped in anger. "All this time," his hands tightened over his arms, "you just _allowed_ the rumors to circulate?"

"I didn't control them!" Sakura said defensively, her fear now being replaced by pure annoyance. "It was Kakashi-sensei's camera and Ami that started the whole thing! And it's not like denying it would stop the rumors. Normality is never the subject of gossip!"

"Do you know how much security was put here because of you?" Sasuke asked harshly. He still couldn't believe that she truly was straight, after all the psychological (and even physical) agony he went through. "At every corner in that overcrowded place, I was worried that some idiot would —"

"I didn't think that I'd get an _award_ for the whole thing!" Sakura exclaimed. "Besides, YOU were the person who had first suggested that I was a lesbian!"

"You told me you LIKED that kiss with that Grass ninja!" Sasuke returned, incensed that Sakura was laying the blame of the rumors on him. "What was I _supposed_ to think?"

"It was just a friendly gesture on her part!" Sakura now screamed. "Of course I enjoyed it, because I'm a lonely, selfish child who takes any piece of genuine affection she can scrape up!"

Her former teammate was struck mute at this.

Sakura panted, realizing that an enormous headache was pounding on her. "In fact, those rumors saved me a lot of trouble," she added. "At least in the beginning. I had time alone to train and improve myself, because the people who regularly bug me to heal a meager scratch or bruise decided that they don't want to deal with a lesbian when she's a bitch. The guys who cared about _me,_ rather than how I was hung, continued to talk with me. There were other benefits, as well as setbacks. It was a damn good educational experience."

An enormous pause reverberated in between them.

Sasuke swallowed. "So... you really are..."

His pink-haired friend sighed. "I'm straight as can be."

A ray of hope cracked through the dark clouds. The foreign voice kicked in. 'She admitted it; now GO!' it ordered Sasuke. The only problem now was that Sasuke had no idea what to do with such a simplistic order. Go, as in what?

"I'm sorry for misleading you this past month," Sakura said. She turned around. "I'm going to the hospital."

"Wait," Sasuke said. "You... that cold... that night..." He breathed. They had slept together in the same bed!

"Right." Sakura nodded. "Nothing happened." That was awfully painful to say, strangely enough. A shudder traveled down her spine. The headache was pounding on her. Something inside her disintegrated. 'There's ki building up in my head!' Sakura realized. She forced her legs to move, hoping that she could reach the hospital on her own.

Sasuke halted. "Sakura?" He watched as her body made hard impact on the concrete.

* * *

Hinata's head tilted, slumber tempting her. She sat at the bed in which Chie lay.

After Hinata had purified the miasma out of Chie in that dark corridor, the Taki-nin was rushed to the hospital. The doctors operated on her arm, despite questions arising of where she had received such a wound, and gave her new blood. Hinata had managed to see Sakura's match while the doctors worked over Chie, and after that immediately came back to see how the girl was doing.

Chie stirred. Her eyes blinked open to see a Konoha-nin with the palest eyes ever. They were a whitish-lavender, and didn't seem to have pupils. When Chie jiggled her memory, she recognized the girl as the one who had discovered her in that alleyway.

"How do you feel?" Hinata asked.

Chie tried to sit up from the bed, but found that her muscles reacted negatively. Her hand absentmindedly touched her arm. A frightened gasp escaped her mouth. The rosary was gone.

"You don't need it anymore." Hinata smiled. "I cleaned up the pieces."

Chie's sapphire eyes widened. "You're..." She bit her lip, and turned away from Hinata. Her legs curled up under the sheets. Chie began to quiver.

"What's wrong?" Hinata asked, slightly alarmed. "Does it hurt anywhere?"

"You're going to kill me," Chie murmured. "Aren't you?"

The Hyuuga heiress was stunned at this suggestion. It was absolutely ludicrous, at least from her point of view. "No!" Hinata exclaimed. "Why would I do that?"

"I... remember now." Chie's breath was short. Tears of shame and fear dripped from her eyes. "My arm was falling apart with the rosary... Before I passed out, you collected the beads with a wave of your hand." She curled up in a fetal position.

"Morikawa-san, no!" Hinata's hands waved, almost blurring. "You're a good girl! I cleaned out the miasma your arm. You can live normally again!"

The door to the room loudly slid open. It was Chie's remaining teammate. He froze at Hinata's presence, thinking for a moment that he went into the wrong room. Then he saw Chie curled up in the bed.

Chie stared. "Koujirou."

The young man bit his lip in response, and looked down.

The Hyuuga heiress gracefully lifted herself from the chair. "Go ahead. I'll leave you two alone." She walked out, and closed the door behind her. The last thing she saw in that room was Koujirou kneeling down to the bedside, eye-level with Chie.

Hinata giggled to herself as she walked the hallway. 'He seems to adore her.' She then sighed. 'Now, all I have to do is find the mourning room where Hirosuke's... remains are being stored.' Her hands curled together into a seal. 'Byaku—'

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto squeezed his arms around Hinata. The dark-haired girl squeaked with the unexpected hug. Naruto's ninja skills seemed to improve day by day. He could still be loud when he wanted to radiate positive charisma, but he could sleuth like a fox. He was just as handsome as one, now that she thought about it.

"Um... Naruto-kun?" A crimson touched Hinata's cheeks. Naruto was sniffing her clothes; he really was acting like a fox. "I don't think this is the time and place for this..."

"I just got out of a mission," Naruto whimpered. He felt Hinata struggle a bit, but he gently held on. "Oh no, you don't. You promised to eat dinner with me at the Ichiraku, remember?" His mouth gently touched her cheek in a chaste kiss.

Hinata sensed herself melting. "A-alright," she gave in. "But I have to come back here in an hour." The girl's pale eyes caught a nervous figure in the hallways. "Isn't that Uchiha-san?" Hinata asked.

* * *

Tsunade folded her hands. She examined the prone form of her student, and looked at the charts. Sakura was barely recognizable as the calm and vibrant fighter earlier in the day.

Tubes and wires spiraled around the unconscious Sakura. A steady stream of oxygen flowed into a breathing mask, and an IV needle was stuck in her arm, dripping energy into her bloodstream. A cloth covered Sakura's eyes, there to prevent any dizziness from new light if she were to wake up suddenly.

The Hokage sighed. She should have known something like this might happen if Sakura went to an awards ceremony. The pink-haired kunoichi had gone through four whole matches, and did not have much chance to rest afterwards. There was always some sort of award for anything nowadays, and Sakura had been obliged to go. The party itself was a psychologically heavy load: Sakura had to announce to the public that she was... well, straight. Sasuke reported that the girl collapsed outside afterwards. Tsunade guessed that they had probably quarreled, but she did not ask. Her job was to heal first and ask questions later.

The blond woman got up from her seat, and addressed the team of four chuunin behind her. "The patrol should be extra vigilant," she ordered with clarity. "We want guests, as well as our own ninja, to be safe. Don't feel relaxed just because I doubled your number for tonight."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

A blip showed up in the machines. Tsunade turned around, and examined the lines. 'High brain activity,' Tsunade thought. 'So she's dreaming. That's a good sign.'

* * *

Sakura looked around at the dead landscape.

"Where am I?" she murmured. As soon as her words left her mouth, she clapped her hand over it. She just said her thoughts aloud, embarrassing as it was. "A dream?"

A black figure stood near a dead tree. His presence was that of a phantom. Sakura recognized his clothing as the man from her three-day 'training' spree.

"This really is a dream," she mumbled. Sakura turned around. She suddenly felt as though she couldn't walk away from this one, as if she needed to clear things up with this man.

"Remember your allegiance," he said in his deep voice.

Sakura froze. "I don't remember any allegiance to _you_," she said towards him. "I don't even know you! My only allegiance is to Konoha."

"Only Konoha? What about the others, who through no fault of their own have no protection?"

"...Good point," Sakura muttered. "But there's a limit to what I can do."

"Limit," the man said, as if the word were a curse. "Weren't you also told that pushing the limits is what brings progress?"

He touched the barren tree next to him. The branches grew outwards. Green tips budded, and transformed into pink. Sakura watched in awe as the tree flowered before her very eyes. It was a tree of cherry blossoms, her namesake. A patch of the earth surrounding the tree began to spread with greenery.

But the grass stopped at a ten-meter radius, right in front of the kunoichi's feet. At this, the feeling of wonderment somewhat dwindled. "Very nice," Sakura finally said, disappointed at the green leaflets at her toes. "But one tree alone can't bring spring."

"For the whole landscape, perhaps it is a failure." The man stepped over to the lifeless ground. "Yet it has brought spring to _that spot_, which is certainly better than nothing at all." He disappeared, and then reappeared behind Sakura. "The point of pushing one's limits is not necessarily to reach that goal, but to see how close you can get to it."

Sakura shivered at the cold atmosphere he radiated. "What are you trying to tell me?"

"You've already seen what this world is going through," the cloaked figure said. "You can decide to be the flower, transient and fragile."

A strong wind rushed through the scenery, which turned into a storm. Sakura felt a sudden pain rush in her chest. The kunoichi screamed aloud, and collapsed into a curled-up ball. She carefully looked up, and realized that the storm was ripping the pink blossoms from the tree.

The stranger leaned over Sakura's trembling form. "Or," he whispered, "you can choose to be the tree itself — strong, and always returning to bloom."

The tight throb within Sakura began to dull. "You want me to be the tree," the kunoichi stated.

"You reveal your own wish by saying it."

Pulling some clips apart, the man unraveled the top flap of his cloak. Sakura tilted her head back, trying to find a glimpse of the person's identity above her. Two red eyes shot in her vision.

* * *

Sakura jerked away. Something was obstructing her vision — a blindfold. She reached up, and pulled it off. The breathing mask, too. In curling her hand, she realized that there was an IV-needle there.

She pulled herself up from the hospital bed. Her fingers traced out the wall near the bedpost, looking for a light switch; there was always one in the same spot in hospital rooms. The kunoichi touched a button. A small lamp flickered on.

Sakura looked at her thin clothes. There were patches on her skin, connected to a machine by wires. Although glad that no more needles were in her skin other than the IV, the computer certainly was annoying in that it picked up every single change in her nerves and recorded them.

She swallowed nervously. Tears welled into her eyes. That dream forced her lost memories to resurface. The details of that blackout she had experienced several weeks ago now came back.

(( "If Minoru-san does come as you promised, I'll swear my allegiance to you." ))

The medic-nin slid open a drawer, knowing that some gauze and tape were ready. She choked down a sob as her fingers retracted the IV-needle.

* * *

A ninja from the Waterfall stepped towards the mourning room, accompanied by one from the Leaf.

"This is always the dirty business," the Taki-nin sighed. "Cleaning up the leftovers."

"We offer our apologies." The chuunin from the Leaf unlocked the door. "He was a highly-skilled one."

"Nah, Hoshino was doomed from the start," the other said in a matter-of-fact tone. "His sanity was shaky. Even if he had survived and became chuunin, I wouldn't have wanted to command him."

"Here you are," said the chuunin of the Hidden Leaf, walking into the frigid room. "Please identify the face, and sign the release papers."

The ninja of the Hidden Waterfall swallowed, and walked over to the draped form on the table. He lifted up the white cloth. That was definitely the Hirosuke he had trained. He laid the fabric back down. "I'll roll the body down, and my colleagues downstairs will take it over from there." He picked up the pen — he halted when he caught the Konoha-nin's stare. "Don't think I'm heartless. It's just that there's nothing else to say. The boy's dead."

Within a split-second, a hand shot from under the sheets, and grasped hold of the chuunin's neck. The Taki-nin gagged. His neck bones snapped within the vice-like grip.

The Konoha-nin was in shock as he saw the body snap up, erect. 'A genjutsu?' he thought. He put his hands together in a seal — a broadsword penetrated his gut. Before he could scream, his head was lopped off by another sword.

Hoshino Hirosuke wrenched his bloodied weapons from the headless corpse. He inserted both swords back into their respective sheaths. The handles disappeared. He swung his legs to the side of the metal table, and jumped off, not minding in the slightest that he just killed two shinobi.

He examined himself. His clothes were still on, thanks to that article in the Chuunin Exams contract. The host country was obliged to leave every weapon and item of clothing on deceased guest genin, so that the other villages could take care of the body disposal themselves. The shuriken holster was still strapped on, as the tool pouch. The only things different had been the scabbards, which had to be taken off his back if he were to be laid down without bending them. Hirosuke strapped them back on, and slid open the door.

The wound in his stomach was already nonexistent. Only a hole in his clothes remained, but he was annoyed with it nonetheless. That girl who inflicted it would pay dearly. Hirosuke slipped out of the room.

A nurse stepped into the hallway. "Oh, hello Kakashi-san," she said. "How do you do?"

"Good evening," the ninja said gruffly. "Do you know where Haruno Sakura is in this building?"

The nurse tapped her head. "I believe she is on... the third floor, east wing. I don't remember the number." She walked away — and then felt a hand clamp over her mouth. Her terrified eyes darted over. Kakashi's face deteriorated in chunks of sandstone, and revealed a Taki-nin.

"Consider yourself lucky," Hirosuke murmured, putting a blade to her throat, "that I let you die quickly."

* * *

Hanging from the ceiling of the elevator, Naruto looked at his watch. Hinata and Sasuke were next to him.

8:01 p.m. Strange. The body should have rolled into the elevator by now. "Hinata-chan, could you turn on your Byakugan one more time?" Naruto asked.

Hinata nodded. The girl performed the sequence, and her eyes shot open, bright with her bloodline limit. She looked around. A gasp escaped her throat. "We... We've got to go to the third floor!" she burst out. "Hirosuke is there!"

Sasuke blinked. The mourning room was on the second floor. "Why would they carry his body up to the third level?"

"He's not being carried; he's _walking_!" Hinata exclaimed, the veins thudding around her cheeks. She flipped down from the ceiling of the elevator box, and slammed the button for the third floor. Being an elevator of a hospital, the thing jerked up quickly.

"You mean he's still alive?" Naruto asked in disbelief. He could trust Hinata's vision; it was impeccable. But a body walking around was just mind-boggling. "And he's just moseying around?"

Sasuke dropped to the floor of the elevator. His primary wonder was why there was no ruckus yet. "Two shinobi were supposed to pick up the body," he stated. "Where are they?"

"They're dead." Hinata already felt terrible — if only she had kept her doujutsu on longer, this might not have happened. The elevator door opened, and she slid out into the corridor. "He's in the east wing!"

Realization hit Naruto and Sasuke. That was where the intensive care units were. 'Sakura.'

* * *

Hirosuke browsed the name-directory of the third floor. He chanted Sakura's room number in his head, memorizing it. He continued to walk through the hallways, carefully evading a few patrol guards.

His eyes spotted a sign near one door. Haruno Sakura. The genin gave a sinister grin. Evidently, the guards did not concentrate on this hallway alone; they had spread out to the rest of the floor, where other injured Konoha-nin and foreign genin were resting. Hirosuke only had to slip into Haruno Sakura's room when nobody was around, make sure she couldn't scream or resist, and he have his way with her before taking her spirit.

The Taki-nin reached for the hollow in the sliding door.

A whirling sound hummed in the air. Hirosuke noticed his own shadow intensifying — the source of light was a sky-blue, and was coming from behind.

The Taki-nin pulled out his sword, and blocked a whirling Rasengan.

"You fuckin' undead bastard!" Naruto shouted, holding the sphere of blue light. "Thinking of finishing off where you started, huh?"

Hirosuke grunted at the vibrating force. He boosted up the chakra in his sword. He looked to the side, and saw a glinting line. Nearly invisible wires flickered around Hirosuke, and tightened. A net formed around his throat.

Several meters away, Sasuke held the end of the string. "These are resilient as piano wire." A gleam of sadism touched his red eyes. "I'll make you wish you never survived that match with Sakura."

The raven-haired ninja savagely pulled. The net around Hirosuke's neck closed in like a cat's cradle, and wires sliced off the head.

"Behind you, Uchiha-san!" Hinata cried out.

Sasuke already knew. He turned around, the orbs of his Sharingan eyes spinning, and kicked the real form of Hirosuke four meters back. The thing he had decapitated was a bunshin made of sandstone; Hirosuke had switched at the last second.

Several hospital carts upturned when Hirosuke's body crashed into them. Sasuke's hands performed several hand-seals.

The Taki-nin pulled himself up weakly. "You..."

Naruto began to prepare another Rasengan. "He's mine," Sasuke hissed. Naruto halted, then nodded to Sasuke. Powerful sparks crackled within Sasuke's palm. The Uchiha ran towards Hirosuke, screeching chirps permeating the air. "CHIDORI!"

Hinata's white eyes caught the black Hardened Soul around Hirosuke's abdomen. "NOT THE STOMACH!" Hinata screamed.

Sasuke jerked at her sudden order. The Chidori penetrated Hirosuke's chest instead. A sickening stab was heard.

Hirosuke coughed out a mouthful of blood. He collapsed, Sasuke's hand digging in his chest.

Sasuke stilled as the body's weight pulled his arm down. Something felt wrong. Blood sprayed out onto Sasuke, but it was not gushing out. Sasuke had been sure that the attack was powerful enough to crush the heart. But it seemed like extra chakra was inside Hirosuke's body, softening the blow.

The raven-haired shinobi felt a strong upper kick into his stomach. Sasuke staggered back. He snapped himself out of the trance, and jumped away. A broadsword crashed down into the floor where he once stood.

Sasuke and Hinata stared at the standing Taki-nin, mutilated chest and all. An insane chuckle came from Hirosuke. The gaping hole in his chest healed itself, bone by bone, sinew by sinew. The Hyuuga heiress trembled.

Naruto spat in disgust. "Dirty cheater."

"You're one to talk," Sasuke remarked at him snidely. Naruto shot back a warning glare.

"The Hardened Soul is a regenerating item." Hinata's voice quavered. "Just like the jewel on the Godaime-sama's forehead..."

"The pretty girl is observant," Hirosuke said, conjuring up the second sword. "I have no idea about your Hokage, but what I have is more legendary than the Sannin of your village."

Naruto grit his teeth. "You bastard."

"None of you are powerful enough to defeat me." Hirosuke repositioned his arm. "I've already killed two ninja." He ran towards the three, broadsword glowing with aura. "Die!"

Hinata suddenly pushed down Naruto and Sasuke to the ground. A burst of light filled the hallway.

Hirosuke was momentarily confused at the flash. A thin shaft drove through his stomach, and the bright light was gone. He staggered in pain, wondering whether that had come from one of these kids, or from behind. No matter; albeit painful, he could always recover.

The Taki-nin noticed pieces of shredded wood, dripping with blood, fleck onto the ground. There was a burnt-out hole in his clothing. The head of an arrow appeared out of his stomach. The inrou-case had been destroyed by it... but where was the jewel?

He looked up, and saw Hinata crawling towards a large black marble on the ground. Yet it was not all black — the obsidian coating was cracked. Glitters of white showed through, which only intensified in brightness as the girl's hand neared it.

"You!" Hirosuke snarled. But the dark-haired girl paid him no heed. Hinata looked as though she were in a trance with the jewel. The Taki-nin raised his broadsword above her like an executioner. "I was talking to you, girlie!"

"Shut up and die!" Naruto shouted at Hirosuke. He shoved a bright Rasengan into the teenager's chest. The shinobi flew and crashed into the hospital wall. The broadsword stuck into an adjacent wall, and shuddered to a stop.

Hinata's fingers laced over the black jewel. Her hand suddenly seized over it, as if the chakra from her hand was being sucked in. She screamed aloud at the burning sensation. But something in her told her to squeeze it all the tighter. Beams of white light shot through the spaces between her fingers. Something shattered.

Hirosuke's body jolted. His eyes glazed over.

The vibrations died away. Hinata lifted up her fist. It opened like a flower, revealing a crystalline, spherical jewel. It was much smaller than before, the diameter like that of her fingernail. The orb had a white tint, yet the surface was so finely polished that a mellow shower of pastel colors reflected off each surface. The jewel was part of a necklace: canine teeth accompanied the crystal jewel as beads. Surrounding the crystal sphere were the black pieces of the former Hardened Soul.

A voice echoed in the hallways. "Waaahooo!" The three looked up. Zashiki Warashi popped into view. "You got the item, Hinata-chan! It's yours!"

Sasuke and Naruto slumped on the ground. "What a hassle," the fox-boy groaned. His rival only nodded in agreement.

"I can't keep this!" Hinata immediately said, holding the necklace as if it were about to explode. "It gives immortality—"

"Not immortality," Warashi snorted. "You're right that it's a regenerating item, but it can't extend life for one single person anymore." The ghost tilted his head towards the corpse of Hirosuke. "Since you purified it, and let it get to its original state again, the jewel has a will of its own."

"That sounds kinda creepy," Naruto commented. "I wouldn't want to be controlled by an inanimate object."

Hinata was of the same opinion. She lifted the piece of jewelry towards Warashi — who of course couldn't take it, because he wasn't solid. "Warashi-chan, I can't take the Hardened Soul!"

Warashi sighed. "It's not the Hardened Soul anymore. Its name is now the Yasakani no Magatama. It has a will to ease suffering. It also has a limit to what it can do."

Hinata studied it nervously. "So... what does it do now?"

Warashi nodded. "As Priestess of Souls, you have to responsibility to hold and guard it, Hinata-neechan." He shot out a hand, with only his index finger pointing up. "Here's its abilities: in one day, it can either cure one person of illness, or send one soul to the afterlife."

'What a useless piece of junk,' Sasuke thought privately.

Naruto sensed the taps of footsteps from the floor. "Here comes the interrogation," he grumbled. "Wait 'til they hear about this." He glanced at Sasuke, who was starting to move. "Running won't work, Sasuke. You'll have explaining to do with Hirosuke's blood all over your clothes."

Actually, Sasuke had no intention of running away. He was only trying to check on Sakura before the guards could tell him off for opening the door of an intensive care unit.

Hinata put the necklace over her head, and tucked it underneath her clothes. Warashi popped out of sight.

"Naruto." Sasuke's voice was barely audible.

Naruto turned around. "What?"

A breeze swept in the hallway. Sasuke had opened the door of Sakura's room.

The IV stood, grape sugar dripping from its bloodied needle. Wires with patches lay in a gummy mess on the bed. Bed-sheets were knotted into a rope, tied at a bedpost — and lead to an open window.

Sakura was gone.

* * *

Notes:

The awards ceremony scene, I borrowed this from the movie "Three to Tango."

"Yasakani no Magatama" - the beads chain, one of the "Sanju no Jingi", or 'Three Sacred Treasures' in Japanese mythology. The jewel represents benevolence.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	24. Loss

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Some people are still a little confused about what 'yuri' actually is. (I had a footnote in chapter 22, but perhaps it was too vague.) Here's an analogy: while 'yaoi' is boy-on-boy action, 'yuri' is girl-on-girl action.

Psychosomatic effects of NON-alcoholic beverages - My high school physics-and-chemistry teacher did this as a psychology experiment while he was in college. He and his friends organized a party, gave free unlimited 'special' punch (they put in chemicals that made it taste as if it were alcoholic), served as bartenders to the party, and wrote down what they observed. The results were interesting, to say the least. A few couples made out in the corners, others were laughing and dancing, and one guy even threw up. Only one or two guests seemed to have figured out that the punch wasn't really alcoholic, but the rest of the party had a grand time. Of course, the 'bartenders' didn't send this study to a publisher, due to _laws_ concerning privacy and permission of test-subjects. But it somehow leaked out on campus anyway. Many students were angry. (Don't you just love those crazy science people?)

catc10: I haven't seen "Howl's Moving Castle" yet. I'll try to see it, but usually what happens is that I procrastinate until the last minute while it's in theaters, and end up seeing it on DVD.

Enzeru no Yami - I don't mean to bug you again, but there's still the small mistake on your page. Your name does not mean 'Darkness's Angel' either (that would be just the same as 'Angel of Darkness', which was what you originally intended). Your username is either 'Angel's Darkness' or 'Darkness of an Angel' or 'Darkness of the Angels' (it varies, since there are no articles in that phrase, and the singular to plural are written the same) — you probably just had a typo. (I still can't get over how cool of a name it is, though.)

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 24: Loss

* * *

Kakashi turned over a broken sand-mask. The front was his exact facial appearance — well, the contours around his one eye, anyway. He turned over the fragile mask. He saw its inner mold to be that of Hoshino Hirosuke, the genin from the Waterfall.

"I guess it would be easy to disguise as me if nobody knows my real face," the silver-haired jounin commented. "Maybe I ought to rethink this mask business..."

Listening in the background, Naruto and Sasuke suddenly perked up. Kakashi was thinking about unveiling himself?

Another jounin working on the investigation laughed. "After all those years, Kakashi-san? That would take away all the mystery and intrigue around you."

Kakashi carefully placed the evidence into a bag. "Maybe you're right," he said. "I should keep it on." His two former students slumped in disappointment.

An investigating jounin nearby scratched behind his ear with his pencil. He read off the clipboard. "One chuunin from the Waterfall, and one jounin from the Leaf, dead in the morgue. One nurse dead in the hallway. One genin from Waterfall, already dead — but for _some_ reason, his corpse is on the third floor." He gave a suspicious glance at the three chuunin in the corner. "And the whereabouts of one genin of the Leaf is unknown."

"Unbelievable." Kakashi shook his head. His one eye glanced at Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata sitting obediently on the bench.

"Why won't you let us search for Sakura-chan?" Naruto burst out. "She escaped the hospital!"

"I've already sent Pakkun and three other medic-nin to trace her," Kakashi calmly answered. He looked upon Sasuke, who said nothing because his glare told enough. "And no, you may not go to help, because we need you for further questioning."

"We told you what happened," Sasuke said. "Let us go."

Kakashi sighed. "That a dead body rose to life and went on a killing spree is a little hard to prove," he pointed out. "And don't worry about Sakura. She shouldn't be too far off. The fact that she used bed-sheets for ropes might signal that she didn't have enough chakra to adhere to the hospital wall for an escape."

A medic-nin came up with a clipboard. "Hatake-san, the autopsy report," he shuddered here, "the second one."

"Thank you." Kakashi swiped the clipboard, and read it. 'Burned-out hole in the chest... strike of a Chidori.' Kakashi looked at the pictures. 'The bruising pattern on the abdomen is from a Rasengan.'

Kakashi continued reading. -Sword-wound, completely healed. Broken wooden arrow in the abdomen. The direction in which the pieces are imbedded indicate a back shot.-

Under his mask, Kakashi frowned. This arrow was unaccounted for. The continuation of the report made it the more disturbing. -Yellow chakra was found in the head of the arrow, but it immediately disappeared during the examination.-

The silver-haired jounin turned a serious eye onto the three. "Were there any other witnesses, Naruto?" he asked.

"No..." Naruto answered. He turned to Sasuke. "We were the only ones, right?"

A slight bite of the lip was there. "There was... someone else."

"What?" Naruto and Kakashi asked simultaneously, albeit both had different tones of voice.

Sasuke looked down. "There was an outline, at the end of the hallway." He knew it would sound ridiculous, so he only said it in the calmest manner possible. "A male shrine-worker. White montsuki and blue hakama. He disappeared right after that strange flash."

"Then how come I didn't see him?" Naruto demanded.

Sasuke crossed his arms. "You didn't notice."

Kakashi scratched his head. "Hm... By the way, Naruto, what is your girlfriend doing?"

* * *

Hinata somehow found herself at the end of the hallway. A scrubby boy of eight years old sat before her, his back resting against the white-painted wall. A flaky outline of chalk was drawn on the ground.

Hinata gulped. This kid was sitting right on the spot of where Hirosuke had died.

"Hello," Hinata greeted, a warm smile to her face. The child looked up at her. "Why don't you sit on a bench?" Hinata offered. "The ground must be cold. And you'll get in trouble if the investigating jounin come by." She glanced down the hall.

The boy glared at her. "I'll sit wherever I want to!" he shouted stubbornly.

Hinata jumped at the volume of his voice. She looked around, and saw that nobody was looking in her direction. Naruto and Sasuke were still talking with Kakashi. Her gaze returned to the child. "I don't want to frighten you," Hinata whispered, "But somebody _died_ in that spot recently."

"Scary nee-chan, go away!" He buried his face in his folded arms, and wailed.

Hinata panicked. "There, there, don't cry!" Her eyes stilled. She saw the wall's cracks behind the child — or rather, _through_ the child. His body was transparent. A ghost. Modern clothing covered him, but it was rather short and paper-thin, like for summertime. His hair was cut short and proper with a few twigs sticking out.

The Priestess looked at a nearby windowpane. Her eyes were slightly glowing. 'I didn't even command it to go on,' she realized. Brushing it away, she turned her attention back onto the ghost. "What's your name?" she asked.

The boy hiccupped. "Hoshino... Hirosuke."

The Priestess froze at these words. She forced herself to blink. "What is your home village?" Hinata asked.

"Hidden Village... of Waterfall," the boy weakly answered. "Where am I?"

"Do you remember how you got here, Hirosuke-kun?" Hinata continued. "Do you know where your parents are?"

The boy shook his head. "I... I ran away from home... And then this scary man with hair like snow gave me a black marble..." Tears streamed down his cheeks. "But I don't want it! I wanna go back home to my mommy!"

Hinata swallowed. 'Oh gods.' The ghost before her was the spirit of Hirosuke before the object of the Hardened Soul had ever entered his life. He was only a child!

A deep pity stirred within Hinata. Hirosuke had been a terrible man — his offenses were probably too numerous to count. But all criminals were once children. And now that she learned that some white-haired man handed an eight-year-old the Hardened Soul, she wasn't even sure if she could hate Hirosuke anymore. He was dead, after all. The piece of his soul left over was a powerless, hungry ghost, who didn't even realize that he had already lived to adulthood and was killed in a shinobi attack.

Hinata knelt down to the fading wisp of a boy. Her hands traced around her neck, and pulled out the jewelry hidden underneath. "Don't worry," Hinata whispered. "Everything will be all right."

The boy's swollen face looked up. The Yasakani no magatama glistened like a dewdrop within Hinata's palm. Before the child knew it, a white aura sprouted from the jewel, and embraced him. There was a flash of light.

Hinata held the jewel tight within her palm. There was nobody in front of her anymore.

"Well," an impressed voice came from behind, "if you had one of the Three Sacred Treasures, you could have told us."

Hinata spun around, and saw the masked face of Kakashi. Behind the jounin stood Naruto and Sasuke, looking very nervous.

* * *

A small bulldog jumped on a pink bed. He looked a set of discarded hospital-robes, and sniffed it.

"Sakura's," Pakkun identified. His foot scratched the small space between his ear and the hitai-ate.

"Of course it's Sakura's!" Shizune blew up. "You led us to her house! And this, is her _room_!"

One medic-nin examined the closet-door, which was slightly ajar. He opened it. A smoke bomb went off. Fumes shot in every direction of the room. "Our apologies," Mr. Haruno said as the ninja team coughed. "Sakura's been getting very protective of her things as of late..."

Once the smoke cleared, Shizune examined the closet. The clothes were in order. An old, dust-covered box of jewelry sat in the corner, although one tiny drawer of it had a fingerprint on its handle, indicating that it was recently touched.

There was a basket of scrolls in another area. A loose-leaf paper rested on top. Shizune peered closely, and read it: -The scrolls in here which are not the property of the Godaime-sama or Konoha's library, I bequeath to Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Haruno Sakura-

'A written will?' Shizune now was starting to grow nervous. "Pakkun! We have to — Pakkun?" She looked at the miniature dog at her feet. Tears brimmed his eyes as he twitched. "What's wrong?"

"Too — much — perfume." The little dog slurred as if he were on a high. "Take me away..."

Shizune picked up the shell of the demolished smoke bomb. A whiff of it was enough. 'Cologne,' she recognized. 'Probably useless in field situations. But Pakkun's sensitive nose must be burning right now after being sprayed with it. Like a skunk attack.'

Sure enough, the little dog sneezed and passed out. One of the medic-nin picked up the ninja-animal in his arms. "Shizune-san, we should get going."

The dark-haired woman nodded. She turned to the Haruno couple. "We're sorry for bringing you this trouble," she apologized. "I promise to find your daughter as soon as possible."

The Haruno couple only quietly bowed. The ninja ran through their house, and disappeared into the streets. "That was strange," one of the shinobi commented. "Didn't they take it a little too calmly? They're her parents."

"This has happened to them before," Shizune said. "They're trusting us to find her this time around." Her hand gestured to one of her teammates. "Bring Pakkun over here." She performed several hand-seals, and released the jutsu on the dog. A stream of cleansing air entered his nostrils, removing any inhibiting chemicals in his olfactory glands. "That foolish girl," Shizune muttered. The bad signs were all there. Leaving the hospital wing by common bed-sheets. A written will in her closet. A smoke bomb filled with a nose-clogging substance. 'She's just as bad as Naruto and Sasuke.'

After a minute's duration of the jutsu, and two minutes of renewing air, Pakkun finally woke up. He kicked himself out of the running ninja's arms, and landed on the ground. The team had already been moving during the time, and he had no wish to be known as deadweight. Besides...

"This is the wrong way," Pakkun finally commented. Shizune groaned.

* * *

Tsunade picked at her scalp. She stretched her neck back. She wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Priestess of Souls. This was a little much. Tsunade had heard legends of such a being, but _Hinata_ of all people...

Naruto could not take it anymore. He got up from his chair. "We told you everything, Baachan! That's all there is to it!"

"Don't call me Baachan!" Tsunade snapped at him. She turned back to the dark-haired girl. "You could have told me of this earlier, Hinata."

Hinata fidgeted in her seat. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to bother you, since it's not shinobi business... And I'm supposed to keep it quiet."

Tsunade leaned back in her chair, and sighed. "This is unbelievable." The Hokage picked up Naruto's red omamori, and flipped it over, back-to-front. Under her fingers, she could feel the chakra pulsing through the golden stitches. Tsunade judged quickly that it took great technical skill to make the spell on it.

The autopsy reports matched the accounts of the chuunin sitting before her. There was no reason that they would kill those shinobi and that nurse, drag the body up, and fabricate a crazy story like this. There was also the fact that the sword-wound inflicted by Sakura was now nonexistent. Healing that large of a gash on an already decaying body was impossible, even with medical techniques like the Chiyute no Jutsu.

Tsunade turned a wary eye on the frustrated Uchiha before her. Sasuke might have learned a few details about reviving the dead from Orochimaru — but she highly doubted he knew enough. The instant Sasuke had returned to the Leaf, he had undergone harsh interrogation by Morino Ibiki's squad. It turned out that Orochimaru jealously guarded his most powerful necromancy from his own student. That reptilian sage had smartly taken into caution that Sasuke might kill him if he knew the means how. Tsunade privately guessed that Sasuke didn't even know about the technique that fully restored life to dead people. Had he known how to perform such a kinjutsu, Sasuke would sooner revive his own parents than the likes of Hirosuke.

The Hokage sighed. "I will have to think about this. I'll keep this information away from your family, Hinata." She picked up a pen, and began to scratch on a piece of paper. "You all three may now leave. But there is a catch. I am assigning you a D-rank mission."

Naruto groaned. Hinata only quietly sighed, wondering how her family would react to her coming home so late in the evening. Sasuke was just in a plain bad mood.

Tsunade ignored them. "Sakura unplugged herself from the machines' wires at precisely 7:58," she continued. She smiled at the looks of awe on the faces of the chuunin. They could already tell what was coming. "It is now 8:47, and Shizune's team of medical ninja still have not come back with her. I am assigning you three and Kakashi to search for her outside the village."

Naruto grew suspicious. "This is unlike you, Baachan," he said. "We just fought. Why aren't you cooping us up in the hospital?"

Tsunade's eyes glanced up. "Because if I try to hold you down during this critical search for Sakura, you'll _definitely_ try to escape," the Hokage answered. "And that would end up with considerable injuries. I'd rather have you dying in the field than in my own medical wards."

Sasuke twitched. Somehow, the Godaime's attitude did not sit well with him. '_You're_ the one who bet on Sakura's match and lost twenty-thousand ryou,' his thoughts grumbled.

Tsunade displayed the paper with the big -D- on it. "And no, you won't get any pay. It's your punishment for sneaking into the hospital during non-visitor hours."

A smirk appeared on Naruto's face. As if pay mattered to them in such a mission.

* * *

Sakura dragged her legs over the brown patches of grass. Her body felt so heavy. This was even worse than the day she first tried on Gai's training weights.

At least she could cover her scent with simple maneuvers. She dropped by her house for a few provisions. She even placed a smoke bomb filled with that cheap cologne her mom gave her when she turned thirteen. If Kakashi went after her, maybe his tracking dogs would get confused. It was not like she had any of the cologne on herself; she made the bombs as a random experiment a year ago, using the very last drop. (Its fragrance made her sneeze too often to be useful in a normal fashion.)

And there was another trick that helped confuse any tracking dogs: running through a body of water. Water washed away one's scent. Any fox that lived long enough knew how to do it.

Except in Sakura's case, the body of water was a river, sixty feet down from the cliff.

The kunoichi perched on the edge of ravine, and leaned her head over. She wasn't even sure if she was thinking properly anymore. 'But I know what I'm supposed to do...'

Her eyes watered. No matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise, that dream was as true as ever. An image of red eyes with black wheels spun her mind.

When that cloaked man finally gave Sakura his identity, she finally realized how difficult this would be. The facial scars, the straight black hair with a tint of gray... and those red eyes. They were not those of her dear friend at all. Sasuke's Sharingan at least held some sort of emotion. Whenever his bloodline limit appeared, his eyes brimmed fighting spirit and determination. Maybe even a hint of insanity touched them. As stoic as Sasuke tried to display himself most of the time, his battle-eyes revealed his inner fire.

No. That man's eyes were calculating, unemotional... and numbing.

A dry sob escaped Sakura. 'I've become a traitor without knowing it.'

Sakura turned her head, taking one last look at the landscape. Spots of buildings stuck out from the vast forest. It had been nice to grow up in Konohagakure, she thought to herself, even though it had gone through troubles that normal villages hardly worried themselves with.

The wind grew colder. Sakura stared down into the canyon, and into the freezing autumn river down below. Her blurred green eyes caught a glowing light within the dancing waters. A face.

'Minoru-san told me about the will-o-wisps in the other world,' Sakura remembered. 'They were lights which lured travelers off the true pathway, and then those people would suffer drowning or falling down a cliff.'

The kunoichi's feet touched the rocky edge. Several pebbles took the sixty-foot drop.

Sakura managed to smile. 'Too bad that my actions can't be blamed on such things here.'

* * *

The thunder clapped. A husky with a patch-eye barked as it sped across the forest. On its heels ran Naruto.

"You'd better be on the right track," Naruto grumbled.

The bushy dog only snarled back.

"Maybe I _can_ do better," the blond shinobi answered. His head cocked to the side for a moment. A cramp clicked out — red aura streamed into his nose. His blue eyes shot open.

"That's Sakura-chan's scent, huh?" The fox-boy's hands slipped into position, and he molded chakra. It streamed into his legs and feet. "Let's go!"

The dog growled a bit when it sensed Kyuubi's energy, but tolerated it in Naruto. This human kid was Kakashi's former student, so maybe the youki in him wasn't so bad. It at least made the boy run faster, almost like a genuine canine.

Naruto felt an odd sensation penetrate his head. It was like when a Q-tip dug in the ear in the wrong direction. Naruto ignored it. It was probably Kyuubi's chakra fixing his senses again.

Naruto swung around the trunk of a tree, making a right-degree turn even faster than the husky. The two almost ran into perfect formation, were it not for the fact that both were trying to outrun each other in their mad pursuit of the target. The real canine wanted to please its master. Naruto just wanted to find his former teammate before her body literally shut down from exhaustion.

Naruto was amazed that Sakura could come this far. Tsunade had estimated she would sleep two days straight. Was that girl insane?

Naruto felt dry gravel touch under his feet. The husky slowed down from its run, much to Naruto's surprise. 'Wait, wasn't this place... Oh shit!'

The blond shinobi skidded to a halt when he saw the incoming fissure. He put chakra under his feet to adhere to the gravel — he stopped two meters away from the edge.

Naruto gasped for air. His body could go on automatic overdrive if Kyuubi's power leaked into his system too long, and literally burn his chakra arteries. He would not feel the pain until later, but it sure hurt as hell when it did come. Even while catching his breath, he could taste blood in his throat.

A hack erupted. 'Man, I must be pushing it. But more importantly...'

Naruto sniffed around. "Sakura-chan!"

He and the dog tracked her scent around the cliff area. Naruto examined the ground. There were tracks. He crouched down, and inhaled. She had been definitely there.

Her footsteps ended at one protrusion of the rock.

Naruto could only stare downward into the freezing river. 'No way.' His blood chilled. 'She couldn't have...'

"SAKURA-CHAN!" his voice echoed.

His blue eyes were fixed on the river. The lines of the water moved at the sound of his voice. They streamlined into... the face of a monster.

Naruto placed a hand on his front pocket, wondering if it was a hallucination or a real demon. He then realized that the omamori wasn't there. He had left that talisman back in Tsunade's office in his haste.

Water piled upwards, heaping onto itself.

The ninja in orange-and-black jumped away. A river of water vertically shot up the crevice, and slashed through the space where Naruto's nose had most recently occupied.

The shape of a long, aqueous dragon whipped through the air. Bubbles of ki frothed at every edge of its teeth. The jaws of the monster rushed towards Kakashi's dog.

The trained husky jumped away in time, and leapt up to the rocks. He threw his head back, howling a signal.

The dragon's form melted down in the air. From the waves of water, a humanoid being revealed himself. Silver eyes flashed, and his hair was dark-green and wavy, like seaweed. His hands loosely held a staff, with a blue hexagonal crystal gracing its top.

Naruto pointed at the floating spirit. "Wha-what the hell was that for?" he yelled, immediately showing his outrage of the flashy entrance. "Are you askin' for a fight?"

"KYUUBI!" the dragon shouted in rage. He raised his staff, and swung down at Naruto.

"Guess so," Naruto mumbled before the staff ripped through him.

Instead of blood and guts, smoke erupted around the dragon's weapon. The river-guardian recognized it as a solid replacement technique, otherwise known as the Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu.

"And you DARE possess a shinobi's body!" the powerful being snarled. He flew upward, and glanced around. He spotted the blond shinobi crouching on the rocks. The dragon let himself drop, like a hawk pouncing his prey.

Naruto bit a tiny corner of his thumb, drawing blood. His fingers blurred into the sequence, and, he slammed his palm onto the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A toad with about three meters of height burst in front of Naruto, holding up his arm-shield to block the spirit's staff.

Bewilderment crossed the dragon's face. He was more surprised when a human girl appeared to the side of Naruto.

"Wait!" Hinata cried out. She stood in front of Naruto and Gamabunta with her arms spread outward. "Stop this, please! I'm the Priestess of Souls, and he's one of my bodyguards!"

The dragon carefully gazed over Hinata's form. The girl's eyes glowed a pure white. Her arms were shaking in fear, but she was determined to protect the blond shinobi.

"Get out of my way," the spirit whispered. A swirl of chakra-filled water danced around his staff. He threw the cluster at Hinata.

The dark-haired girl pulled her arms across her chest. Fear and instinct took over Hinata, making her close her eyes tight, the absolutely _last_ thing she ought to have done. But she was too rigid in fear to mold chakra and perform the Kaiten. 'Naruto-kun, run!'

Strange: there was a loud blast and vibrant tremors, but Hinata didn't feel her body disintegrate. She wasn't even pushed back.

Hinata's white eyes opened. She, Naruto, and the giant toad were encased in an opaque globe. It was a shield of chakra. It was very thin and translucent, like the wing of a dragonfly, but strong enough to keep the water out. Hinata noticed a small object floating before her chin: the Yasakani no Magatama. 'But I had already used it this evening...' Hinata looked at the shining jewel. 'Did it still have enough power to protect me?'

The dragon looked stunned. Then, horrified. "Oh dear — we apologize for our rudeness!" His form wafted down to the ground. The aura around him calmed down to a more gentle level.

Naruto and Hinata stared. The holy shield warped away. The dragon was being penitent, albeit he still referred to himself in the royal plural.

"B-but aren't you a youkai?" Hinata asked.

The dragon looked insulted for a moment, but he let it slide. "Please don't categorize us with the rest of earthly monsters," he said stiffly. "We are part of the Ryuu-zoku — the Dragon Race." He carefully examined Hinata and Naruto for any damage. "We simply could not believe that the Priestess would ever have a guardian who was also part-demo—"

"No problem," Naruto said in a loud voice. He only sheepishly laughed when Hinata looked at him with amazed eyes for interrupting a dragon.

After glaring at Naruto, the river-guardian tilted his head in a slight bow towards Hinata. The Priestess could tell that they dragon was fighting every prideful instinct in him to do such a gesture of humility, so she just bowed lower to ease his nerves. After all, she was still human herself.

"Sir, have you recently seen a human pass by?" she politely asked, her head still lowered. "Her eyes are green, and her hair is the color of cherry blossoms."

The river-guardian looked away. "As a matter of fact," he said slowly, "a human of your description did fall into my waters only moments before. Her ki was dangerously low."

Looks of horror passed Naruto and Hinata.

The river-spirit's argent eyes turned regretful. "Our deepest apologies."

"Sakura-san..." Hinata quavered. "She's dead?"

Naruto's facial scars began to deepen. "And you... you couldn't do _anything?_" He ended up screaming at the river-guardian. "What kind of protector ARE YOU?"

"Silence!" the dragon shouted, streaming jets of water encircling him. "We have no authority over human will! Even if we were a more powerful dragon, we do not save mortals who pathetically throw themselves in the depths of despair!"

Naruto's cerulean eyes turned blank. He was only vaguely aware that Hinata trembled next to him. "You mean... Sakura-chan really..."

Hinata choked. "How could she do this to us?"

"I don't believe it!" Naruto whispered. "I... can't..."

Naruto felt something cold and wet touch his hand's side. The husky-dog stood at his feet. It slightly trembled from the presence of the humanoid dragon, but had been brave enough to come close. It nipped at Naruto's sleeve, and gave a low whimper. Seeing that it brought the shinobi's attention, the dog trotted over to a boulder.

Hinata bowed again to the silver-eyed dragon. "Thank you for your services, Sir."

The dragon turned his head to the side. "We are young and inexperienced compared to others of the Ryuu-zoku... But if you need a fraction of our powers, Priestess, all that is required of you is to call." The river-guardian flipped back in the air, and crashed back into his riverbed.

"Wait!" Hinata called out. She ran to the edge, and looked over. "I don't even know your name!"

'You will know, when it is needed,' his voice echoed in her mind. Hinata bit her lip. She turned around, and saw that Naruto and the dog were already far away from her.

The husky-dog had squeezed itself in a thin space under the boulder, evidently looking for something. Naruto watched nearby, and saw the animal nudge its nose towards a shining object. The canine picked it up carefully within his mouth.

Naruto knelt down. His calloused hands caught the item from the husky's jaws. It was a hitai-ate with the Leaf insignia. Naruto's hand traced the cloth — something tangled around his finger. He put it up closer to his eyes, and saw that it was a strand of pink hair.

Naruto felt a gentle hand touch his back. "Naruto-kun..." A quiet sob escaped Hinata. "I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay, Hinata-chan." He was so submerged in disbelief that he couldn't even cry. "Now we have to figure out how to tell this to Sasuke."

"That's unnecessary," a voice intoned from behind them. Hinata and Naruto turned around to see a silver-haired jounin.

"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto swallowed. "Since when were you here?"

"Only just now," Kakashi replied, pushing his hitai-ate back over his scarred eye. A haggard look was on his face, making him appear ten years older.

"Did you see anybody with us?" Naruto asked.

"Only Sasuke." Kakashi pointed to a dried-out tree nearby.

Naruto stilled. "Sasuke?" He walked over, and discovered the Uchiha sitting behind the dead tree.

"So," Sasuke said in a low voice. "The 'depths of despair', he said?"

Naruto felt his throat constrict. How long had Sasuke been eavesdropping? His rival's black eyes were unreadable as a cold tunnel.

The raven-haired ninja got up, and brushed himself off. Face clean of any grief, Sasuke pulled the hitai-ate away from Naruto's clutches. Sasuke walked over to Kakashi, and handed it over. "Evidence." He turned around. "Let's go home. Our mission is done."

"B-but Sasuke..." Naruto was struck with disbelief. "We don't even know for sure if—"

"The river-spirit was enough of a witness for me," Sasuke coldly replied. He looked at Naruto. "Yes, I could see him. Even Kakashi saw him, even though he acts dumb."

Kakashi said nothing.

Naruto's lips tightened. He turned to the giant toad next to him. "Gamabunta, help me get down there and find Sakura-chan." He picked up his girlfriend in his arms, and jumped onto the toad. "Hinata-chan, can you help me with your Byakugan?"

Hinata swallowed, and nodded. "I'll try."

Sasuke only walked off.

Naruto turned an angry set of blue eyes on his rival. "Sasuke!" he shouted. "I might be a little hot-headed, but at I least I know when there's still a chance!"

Sasuke turned around. "I don't want to find her body," he said in a monotone. "That's the job of hunter-nin." His form disappeared in a blur.

"SASUKE!"

Kakashi held up a halting arm. "Wait, Naruto. You and Hinata should set off those emergency flares. The jounin patrolling the forests will come to your aid to find Sakura. I trust your calling-animals to keep you safe in those streams."

"What about Sasuke?" Naruto demanded while sitting on Gamabunta's shoulders.

"I'm going after him," Kakashi answered. "I'm afraid he might do something rash." The jounin kicked off the ground, and sprinted after his pupil.

Naruto positioned himself on the frog's back. He pulled out a capped cylinder from one of his pockets. He uncapped it, and pulled on a string underneath. A colored beam of smoke shot upward as a flare.

His head turned slightly to recheck the kunoichi behind him. "Ready, Hinata-chan?"

The veins elevated around her Byakugan eyes. Hinata embraced her arms around Naruto's chest. "I'm ready when you are."

Naruto grinned. "That's my girl. Now hold on tight." He slapped the toad's back. "High ho, Gamabunta!"

Hinata's hold tightened as Naruto's calling-animal jumped down the ravine, wall from wall. The only thing keeping the two shinobi from falling off were their folded legs, glued with chakra on Gamabunta's back.

"You okay, Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked.

"I'm okay," she breathed. Her vision shot into the river below. "Nothing yet," Hinata spoke, her Byakugan eyes scanning the rushing waters.

Naruto kept his chakra hold steady. "That's it, Gamabunta, good speed!"

Hinata rested her chin over the blond's shoulder. "We shouldn't go any faster; my vision slows down through water." From one spot in her vision, she noticed that her boyfriend's face was a little red. "Naruto-kun, are you okay?"

"I'm... okay." Naruto swallowed. 'Control. Control.'

In truth, he was not 'okay' at all. He had trouble breathing. It wasn't only the stop-and-jump ride of Gamabunta that took the wind out of him. Hinata was squeezing his ribcage, responding overenthusiastically to his request that she 'hold on tight.' Her arms constricted his lungs like a rubber band.

There was also the fact that Naruto began to observe certain... feminine features of his girlfriend. Before he asked her out, he did notice a few things about general women's anatomy, the healthy growing teenager he was. But now his attention only focused on Hinata. And since she was a beautiful, pleasant, and strong girl, he could not help but notice a few things. Like the fact that her sweet bosom was pressed on his back. If he wasn't careful, his hormones might become the death of him.

(( "Remember, Naruto," Jiraiya laughed, a lecherous grin on his face, "It's not just the size that counts. It's also the shape!" ))

Naruto shook. 'Do NOT think like Jiraiya,' he scolded himself. 'This relationship with Hinata will go steady. If you care about her, you will protect her and not ravish her yourself. She is a sweet, innocent young girl!'

A sigh escaped Hinata. Her cheek nuzzled into Naruto's bare neck.

The Kyuubi-vessel shivered. That was it; he had to speak out. "Um, Hinata-chan."

"Mmm?" She was only half-listening to him, as she was seeking out for any traces of a human body under the river's current.

Naruto's vision turned blurry. "I can't breathe..."

"Oh, sorry!" Hinata's repositioned her arms away from Naruto's chest. The kunoichi heard him take a fresh gulp of air. She decided that if she couldn't hold his chest, his waist would be a better area.

Naruto felt her hands trail downwards to his abdomen. The male teenager began to sweat. "Hinata-chan, _not that low_!"

Hinata peeped, realizing what he meant. She put her arms around his mid-rift instead. Now she was the one flushing like a tomato. Her arms still hugged him, but she wisely decided not to snuggle against him too closely while they were on top of a giant toad (or to the side of it; the animal's leaps between the two cliffs flipped the two ninja perpendicular to the ground more than once). They had to find Sakura — or at least, what was left of her.

Gamabunta jumped out of the ravine. They had reached the end of the river, where it connected with another. The giant toad jumped only the rocky beach, and sat into a resting position.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Naruto shouted.

"I'm out of energy," Gamabunta said simply. "And this is as far as you're allowed to go." The amphibian disappeared in a poof of smoke. The two shinobi landed onto the ground, although Naruto was a little more awkward in the landing.

"He's right," Hinata said. "This joining of the rivers is the border. Only qualified hunter-nin are allowed past here." She looked at the two streams. One could literally see the line where the two rivers met, for each stream had a its own unique tint of sediments.

"Our mission is to find Sakura-chan, though." Naruto raised himself up. A sharp pain cracked through his ankle. "Ugh!"

The dark-haired kunoichi turned around, and saw Naruto clutching his ankle. She was at his feet at an instant.

"Wait, Hinata-chan — it's nothing!"

Hinata put a hand on his knee. "Let me see it, Naruto-kun." The Priestess examined the reddened area. "Twisted ankle. We should wait for the search crew to arrive."

"Oh, it's not that bad," Naruto said. "It'll be good as new within..." He turned immobile when he saw his girlfriend hovering over her.

Hinata touched Naruto's chin with her delicate fingers. Her eyes narrowed in concern at how cold his skin felt. "Your chakra is low," she said. "You can't walk around like that."

Naruto swallowed. "B-but... Sakura-chan is..."

"If you die in this rescue mission," Hinata said gravely, "then what will Sakura-san say?" Naruto's mouth opened, but nothing came out. "Please stay here, Naruto-kun," Hinata pleaded. "I'll look around for her with my Byakugan..."

Naruto swallowed. "You're right, Hinata-chan," he breathed. "I've gotta cool my head." His fingers raked through his sweaty hair. "It's just that Sakura-chan is like a little sister to me, and..." A wobbled breath of air entered his lungs. "Sasuke — I can't believe he —"

A tear dripped from his eyes. Naruto clapped his hand over his face. 'Damn, in front of my own girlfriend, too...'

Hinata stared. "Naruto-kun?"

The blond ninja forced out a laugh. "There's me breaking the shinobi rule again... Never show emotions..." He froze when Hinata gave him a light kiss, and embraced him. It was her invitation to cry his heart out here — after all, nobody was around to hear him except her. He gave in quietly.

Hinata stroked his back. She felt Naruto's warm tears soak the clothing on her shoulder. Her Byakugan told her that Sakura was nowhere to be found.

* * *

Sasuke's feet harshly crushed the dried leaves on the pavement. It was his only way of keeping sane for the night. This day could not get any worse.

His brain was haywire. Sakura had thrown herself in the river. That was just... It was illogical. A ninja hardly ever did something like that. The last time he heard of such a thing, it was Uchiha Shisui.

Sasuke felt his own heart beat. The Uchiha blood in him — it had been sprayed before.

From his pocket, the young man pulled out the keys to his house. His hands were steady and calm as they moved. Here, he was the perfect ninja. No emotion. He didn't even show commoners, for anybody around the corner could be a spy.

He felt another presence behind him. "You're getting worse, Kakashi," Sasuke seethed under his breath.

Kakashi disappeared from the rooftop, and appeared in front of Sasuke. "Now, now, don't be so upset."

"I'm not upset!"

The silver-haired jounin sighed. Finally, the Uchiha cracked a little. Kakashi wondered when all that tension would erupt. "I just want to ask you one question."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "Fine."

Kakashi turned a serious eye on Sasuke. "What are you going to do, now that Sakura's gone?"

The glare from the chuunin was intense. It was either he didn't know an answer, or didn't want to say it.

Kakashi tapped his foot. "Well?"

"I'll continue training," Sasuke finally said. "I'll pursue my ambitions of killing Itachi and reviving the clan, like always." He jiggled the handle of the door.

"Is that what Sakura would have wanted?" Kakashi asked. His pupil froze.

"...Yes." The young Uchiha looked down. "She wouldn't want me to stop what I want to do, just because she's gone. Sakura didn't think that the living had any obligation to the dead." A bitter chuckle escaped him. "That's why she pitied me. She gave me nothing else."

Kakashi's one eye narrowed. What was with Sasuke? He now laughed off his friendship with Sakura as if it were a hoax.

"Life goes on," Sasuke intoned. He opened the door.

Kakashi blocked Sasuke's path with an arm. "That's an inadequate answer. You felt much more for Sakura than that."

Sasuke bared his teeth. Even his teacher thought he couldn't take care of himself — how aggravating. "Do you really want to know what I think of her now?" Sasuke demanded in a whisper.

Kakashi was still. He only waited for the right answer.

"I'm disappointed in her." The raven-haired ninja sneered. "Suicide is so common that it bores me. It's more courageous to keep on living through pain."

Something nearly snapped in Kakashi with these words. "Sasuke, you should know that you're not alone in the pain," he said gravely. "My father—"

"I don't want to hear it." Sasuke slammed the door shut.

Kakashi leaned into the door, listening for anything strange. Several locks were heard. The jounin backed away when as he sensed a protective fuda go on the door. 'Definitely ANBU training.'

Slightly concerned, the jounin flipped upward to a higher window. He raised his fist to knock on it, perhaps give Sasuke a lecture about letting stuff out once in a while — but he froze. There was a strange sound coming from the young man's bedroom. Sasuke had already flung himself onto bed, and buried his face in a pillow. If his voice made any sound, it was muffled down.

Kakashi lowered his head. Even in private, his student tried to conceal any trace of weakness. He jumped off the roof, and ran towards the Hokage's office to report. 'Once Sasuke delves into those ANBU classes, he'll be fine.'

* * *

The morning sunshine streamed bright through the windows.

Naruto shifted under the blankets. Here he was, hospitalized again for overuse of his chakra. (At least the medic-nin spared the bandages.) The blond didn't particularly feel like calling out to Kyuubi to heal him. He would rather spend time in a sick bed with his girlfriend nursing him than take an instant boost of chakra. The pain was worth it. Naruto didn't want to talk to the youkai anyway: if he opened up his mind, the damn fox-demon would probably mock Sakura for committing suicide, and then taunt Naruto for caring about it.

It was hopeless. He and his girlfriend (and later in the night, five backup ninja) went that far to search for Sakura. Sakura's body had not even washed ashore on the stream banks.

"I'm sorry for dragging you so far last night, Hinata-chan."

Hinata shook her head. "I wanted to help find Sakura-san, too. She was so kind to me when we were taking medical lessons from the Hokage-sama." The kunoichi with midnight-blue hair knelt down to Naruto's bed, and rested her crossed arms on the edge of the mattress. "I should have realized that you were overworking yourself. I can't really tell when you reach the limit for chakra, even with my Byakugan. Your stamina is so high to begin with."

Naruto only weakly smiled. "Well, I lived." His blue eyes turned downcast. "Still..."

A concerned frown traced Hinata's face. Her hand reached out, and her fingers brushed Naruto's jaw line. "You need more care," Hinata said.

"Really?" A fake grin was plastered on Naruto's face. "What kind of medicine? Antibiotic, or a shot, or —"

Hinata caught Naruto's mouth in a tender kiss. The blue eyes of the fox-boy opened wide for a moment, but closed when he felt the warmth rush into him. Naruto wanted this. He _needed_ this. Hinata was the only one who could calmly guide him out of this monstrous headache, this nightmare that he lost a close friend like Sakura to suicide. And Naruto had not been able to spend much time with his girlfriend in private ever since they got together. Their schedules had been unusually packed these past six weeks, with multiple exams, youkai attacks, and new ANBU classes coming in.

Some part in Naruto's brain kept on wondering why Hinata stuck to him after all that time. 'I've got to reward her patience,' was his only thought. He hesitantly traced her soft lips with his tongue.

Hinata froze. The Priestess slightly withdrew.

"Ur... Was that too much?" Naruto asked worriedly. "I've never done French-kissing before..."

Hinata blinked. "What's that?" she asked.

Naruto stilled for a moment. He leaned into her. "Well," he murmured, using all his might to hide his nervousness, "I can show you." He kissed Hinata, licking her mouth once more.

She giggled.

Something between disappointment and embarrassment crossed Naruto. He tried to do something romantic for his girlfriend, and she _laughed? _"Hinata..."

"It tickles," she said shyly. "It feels like you're a dog."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. His nose touched hers. "Hinata-chan," he murmured, "open your mouth."

Hinata wondered what Naruto meant by that, especially when his lips hungrily descended upon hers the next second. She felt Naruto's tongue again on her mouth... as if begging for entry. 'Entry?' she thought. 'No way! I can't _literally_ open my mouth; I'm too busy kissing him!' Then again... Naruto was not the type of person to speak in metaphor. He always said what he said. She loosened her jaw a bit, giving a bit of space.

It was enough. Naruto probed inside her. He did it slowly and gently, as he still held doubts whether this was better than normal kissing. It certainly was less hygienic... But she tasted wonderful.

Hinata's eyes opened wide at the gesture. It shocked her. But it felt absolutely divine. She followed Naruto's lead, deepening the kiss. Hinata wrapped her arms around his neck, and even ran her fingers through her hair.

It was now Naruto's turn to be taken aback; Hinata was responding extremely well. He felt like he could kiss her... forever.

Unfortunately, the need for oxygen was a fact of life. The two separated for some air.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto breathed, "are you _sure_ you didn't have any practice before?" A red-faced Hinata nodded. "Really?" Naruto asked. "Because you're very good at this." He pulled her head down again.

A look of panic suddenly crossed the Priestess. She pushed him down onto the bed, and sat back properly onto the chair. She smoothed her clothing. Before Naruto could ask if he scared her, the hospital door slid open. A medic-nin's heels clicked in.

'Ah, she used the Byakugan,' Naruto realized. 'Well, the hospital is a public facility...'

"Your check-up," Shizune said. Naruto could see bags under her eyes. Naruto only nodded, keeping his inner comments that she looked horrible. Who wouldn't, after searching the whole night for Sakura?

"Did the other hunter-nin find anything?" Naruto asked for the umpteenth time.

"Tsunade managed to send out a specialized squad last night," she quietly answered. "They'll be checking for her outside the borders." Shizune strapped Naruto's arm with a blood-pressure indicator. She pumped it full of air. "Some people are already whispering that she was abducted by foreigner ninja."

Naruto sighed. "So Tsunade's declaring her missing?"

The medic-nin scribbled down the results on her clipboard. "As a civilian, yes, but not a missing-nin. We want to bring her back alive if she shows up." Shizune smiled. "I don't believe she's dead, either."

Hinata suddenly jumped within her seat. Zashiki Warashi floated in the air behind Shizune like a balloon. He cheerfully waved his arms to Hinata and Naruto. 'That idiot!' Naruto thought. 'Making himself visible while a normal person is in the same room...'

Shizune perked up from her writing, and turned around. Seeing nothing behind her, she turned back to a stunned Naruto.

Naruto gulped. "Um... Didn't you see anything?"

Shizune raised her dark eyes. "What?"

"Never mind." Naruto painfully suppressed laughter as Warashi gave Shizune bunny-ears with his fingers. 'Is he _trying_ to get us in trouble?'

"Anyway, one more day of rest," Shizune said. "You'll be released tomorrow if you sit still." She walked out of the room, and slid the door shut.

Naruto dove straight for the question. "How can I see you, and Shizune can't?" he asked Warashi.

Warashi crossed his legs. "As a human guardian for Hinata-neechan, you'll slowly develop the ability to see ghosts. Of course, you'll never reach her full Sight." He landed onto the bed, and spun around. "Can you see color on me?"

Naruto blinked. "Um... You're just a hint of white-and-gray."

Warashi nodded. "As expected. Your sight isn't as strong as that of Hinata-neechan, but it'll be enough to see evil spirits."

"Well, I'll be damned," Naruto said in mock awe, pointing at Warashi, "There's one right now."

"I'm not evil!" the ghost shouted. "Anyway, you have several jobs. First of all, remember to think about the other two of the Sacred Treasures. We might not need to take them, but it would be good to make sure where they are. We don't want them abused."

"We have to look for two more?" Hinata asked weakly.

"Just think about it," the ghost in ragged clothes chimed. He stretched himself in the air. "Actually, the real reason why I came here is because Hinata-neechan's other bodyguard is sort of in a pinch."

Naruto and Hinata stared at the boy. Other bodyguard?

The ghost scratched his face with one finger in deep thought. "What was his name again?"

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	25. Suspicions

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

I want to warn the readers now that I won't be updating for at least a month.

Next week, I'm going on a trip — a three-week tour of art museums. I'm excited, since I haven't seen good art for... a good long time. Time to bring out the sneakers so that I can stand for hours on end in front of paintings! (Strange how I'm a political science major and am on the swim team.) Sorry, but I don't own a laptop — and even if I had one, I would not be able to write fast enough because walking in art museums, as enjoyable as it is, is tiring. Not that I won't be thinking about this fanfic from time to time. I'll be looking out for stories in paintings so that I can enhance this fanfic's quality. I also borrowed a copy of the _Nihongi_ from the library to flip through while on the trip, and I'll also try to finish _Faust_ by Goethe.

I don't own the _Nihongi_, either. (That's kind of obvious, as it's almost the _Illiad_ of Japan, but you never know nowadays.)

If there are dear readers out there who are unhealthily obsessed with this story — which I remind you, is just a fun story so you shouldn't take it so seriously — read other fanfics, because there are plenty of great ones out there!

This chapter will turn back a little chronologically, since the last one ended with Hinata and Naruto spending time together the morning after.

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 25: Suspicions

* * *

Sasuke could barely function that night. The expanding and contracting of his ribcage was his only movement.

Naruto was right. What in the world was he doing at home? There was still a chance that their former teammate was alive. The river-guardian might have been lying; it only controlled a tiny fraction of all the bodies of water in this world...

But what really confused Sasuke was that if Sakura's case was not a suicide, it was at least a clear case of running away. Abandoning the village. For _what_?

Perhaps some ninja from another village had managed to sneak into Sakura's hospital room, and convinced her that life would be better elsewhere. Inconceivable — Konoha was one of the top five shinobi villages! Sure, it went through a few wars and rebellions, but it was by far better than an exploited village in the outskirts of nowhere. Sakura had really nothing to angst over compared to other ninja. She had both of her parents, unlike him and Naruto, and even the Hokage favored her in medical skills. If Sakura ever went into battle, it was as a medic on the sidelines... Right?

Then again, her performance in the Chuunin Exams hinted on something slightly different. It must have taken years for Sakura to earn that dexterity in healing and taijutsu. And her newfound frost when faced with being poisoned, chained, stripped, and shot at — receiving those treatments was one thing, reacting correctly to each was quite another.

Sasuke realized that he knew nothing of how Sakura turned out that way. His first-ever glimpse of her training was when the Hokage ordered Sakura to advance her Kuchiyose no Jutsu. All those years, and he didn't even consider to spend a minute to observe her train. Sure, he more than once spied on her before, but those were for brief instances in non-training ground. It had taken a needle of mockery in his dense pride for him to offer _advice_. He then worried his head off for her in the Chuunin Exams. And now, she just runs off to the river, and drowns herself...

She couldn't be gone. She just couldn't.

The Uchiha of seventeen brushed his hand over the blanket. Sakura had slept here next to him, only weeks before. The sheets had been washed since then, but it was as if her memory was already connected to the fabric. She had embraced him here, gifting him with at least a taste of what being with a caring woman might be like. Her pink hair sweaty yet sensual, the innocent expression on her face when she was asleep, every gentle curve, the taut yet graceful muscles... Sasuke loved and hated that he could remember so much.

(( "I don't want to find her dead body." ))

Sasuke gripped the sheets. He was being a coward, and he knew it. 'Get up,' he told himself. 'You've got to find her. You _owe_ her—'

Yet his body wouldn't move. The exhaustion and psychological turmoil of the day overtook him, and he fell asleep.

* * *

Sasuke's eyes cracked open. The sky through his windows was a dark blue, indicating morning just ahead.

Sasuke glanced at the clock. 4:12. The ninja swore under his breath. He put a hand to his face, and felt some spots of dry film under his eyes. They glued abhorrently to his cheeks like soap scum to bath tiles. He rubbed them slightly, wondering what they were.

Sasuke's fist slammed on the cabinet next to the bed. A few red marks touched his fingers, burns left by the jutsu-scroll he worked on exactly twenty-four hours ago. The ninja had been agonizing over tiny rolls of paper, checking and re-checking that he had copied everything in writing correctly so that the Goukakyuu no Jutsu would come out. If he went that far to ensure Sakura's safety, then he could go on a little further.

Sasuke's legs swung to the corner of the bed. He tugged a little on the sweat-stained clothes, wondering if he should change. He gave a mental shrug. What the hell. He was going to get dirty once more anyway.

The teenager walked down the hallway, fitting on various weapons and ninja-gear that littered the floor. He unsnapped the door of its locks and sealing-fuda, slid it open, and stepped out into the early autumn morning.

Sasuke got onto the main street and speed-walked towards the exit gates. He took care to avoid the commoners drunk in the gutter, leftovers of the parties; they were usually more temperamental and loud than necessary. When one guard stopped him, Sasuke displayed the Hokage's note assigning him to search for Sakura (he carefully hid the words 'under the supervision of Hatake Kakashi' with his fingers). The guard dismissed him, and then added that Sasuke should either "find Sakura or go to hell."

In any case, Sasuke got into the outside territory of Konoha surprisingly scot-free. Adrenalin rushed him as he started off through the forest and towards the cliff. Every tree, every rock, his eyes searched out for any blip of chakra or mop of pink hair. There was a half-moon tonight, but it was plenty enough light for him.

Pretty soon, he was at the end of the river. Large toad prints were on the gray, sandy bank, showing where Naruto had already been. The half-moon's reflection glistened in the wide lake, like a slice of apple floating in water.

Slice of apple. Damn. That comparison reawakened memories he'd stuffed in the corner long ago. Annoyed at Sakura, and annoyed at whatever forced him out of his warm bed, Sasuke continued his search.

* * *

A purple-haired girl looked down at an unconscious body next to her.

Potamos poked a finger at the human's chest. Her lips moved towards the ear... and her cute voice cried out: "WAKEY-WAKEY!"

The rounin let off a shout. A fit of giggles overcame Potamos.

"What was THAT for?" the master-less samurai demanded, pulling up from the mat. A needed siesta had been ruined.

Potamos grinned mischievously. "Now, now. Mino-chan will soon get your clothes." She admired the half-dressed figure before her.

"You don't expect me to flirt with you still, Hiromi?" the other asked. "Because you tried to snag a kiss after fishing me out. You don't perform mouth-to-mouth if the victim is _coughing_." A roll of the eyes. "It took you long enough, by the way."

"I had a little deal to do," Potamos argued. " 'sides, I got you alive, didn't I? I want a reward!" She tackled the human to the ground. "You're just so YUMMY to look at!"

The door slid open. "Get off our recruit, Devil-child," said a bored voice.

Minoru walked into the room in his shrine-attire. In his hands lay a folded set of loose-fitting robes. He knelt down to the human. "I acquired one of your size," the blond elf said. "We'll clean laundry together at certain occasions, like at inns. But mending is strictly your own business." He tossed down a hat woven of straw. "And this will make you less prominent."

The rounin picked the straw-hat up, and examined it.

Minoru looked at the human with careful blue eyes. "It might be required that you have your hair cut. Forgive me, but you appear a bit too feminine and vulnerable."

"Look who's talking, Pretty-boy," Potamos said, scrutinizing Minoru's long, wavy locks.

"Be quiet," he dismissed. "When representatives of religion are half-decent in appearance, it makes a good impression. 'Cleanliness is the closest thing to godliness.' 'When you fast, wash your face.' Et cetera, et cetera. Religion exists because people want to find and witness what true beauty is." The human and water-demon stared in awe at his eloquence. A brilliant smile came from Minoru. "That's why my presence alone contributes to one-third of all donations to the shrine I am employed at!"

The runaway human blinked.

Potamos scratched her head. 'Didn't someone back home declare Pride as one of the Seven Deadly Sins?' the water-demon thought. 'Mino-chan's narcissism makes me doubt that elves are beings of light. I like more the theory that they used to be spirits of water.'

Minoru's attention reverted on the rounin before him. A pair of scissors clicked in his hands. "Fifteen centimeters off."

The shoulders of the lost one sagged. "I had been growing it out..."

"All right, ten centimeters," the elf compromised. "But you must tie it high up in the back."

"Yeay, it's a sleepover!" Potamos cheered. "Mino-chan, can I French-braid your—"

"Absolutely not."

* * *

A flock of crows scattered from the trees above. A long figure crouched on the surface of the lake.

Sasuke pulled his head up from the water. Nope, Sakura wasn't underneath. If she sank anywhere here, the mutated crayfish would have collected at her body by now. Sasuke was at least glad to not find her waterlogged face torn up by underwater creatures. That opened the possibility of discovering her body around the shore. If worse came to worse, a tiger might have dragged off the dead kunoichi into the forest and mauled her as carrion...

'Don't jump to conclusions.'

Sasuke looked up weakly at the sky, which was now lighting up. The sun was coming out _already?_ Time certainly had a strange way of playing with his mind.

The Uchiha was perfectly aware that he was doing a dangerous dance on the border. If caught, he could face detention, or even worse, execution.

Oddly enough, a sense of satisfaction came with the risk. What else other than danger made a mission interesting? Besides, the lake's perimeter was humungous, and Sasuke had his doubts whether the other search crew had put all its effort to cover the area.

From the middle of the lake, all the way to the sandy banks, the raven-haired ninja made his way slowly and carefully. Each step, he felt himself sink downward. At one point, Sasuke stuck his hand in the water pulled an unwary fish by the tail.

Half-drained of chakra, he fell into a crouched, hoodlum position on the hard rocks which consisted of the lake shore. The water soaking his hair dripped uncomfortably down under his shirt. Watery mud squished around his feet within their sandals.

Sasuke crushed the gasping fish on a rock, putting it out of its suffocating misery. An autumn breeze passed his back, making goosebumps rise on his back. What a goddamn waste of time. Sasuke only came here to clear up his conscience — or something akin to a conscience, he supposed.

"Sakura," he growled, "I _hate_ you."

The ninja picked up several fallen branches, planning for a fire to warm him up a bit and recharge his chakra reserves. For pride's sake, he would have to put the fire out as soon as possible before a rescue team came for _him_. But right now he needed some breakfast.

Breakfast.

Now he was thinking of that morning with Sakura! It had been nice of her to make breakfast for him after that might. She even helped him cook a few dinners later. Even though it had been in exchange for helping her calling-jutsu, he still had enjoyed Sakura's food and company. His mother had been better in cooking (nostalgically speaking, of course), but Sakura was the one who educated him in the details. Like that there were spices _other_ than soy sauce and horseradish.

The fish slowly roasted. Sasuke noticed that the top part of his shirt was soaked. He pulled it off, and awkwardly draped it over the boulder near the fire. It wasn't pleasant, but he'd rather be dry and shirtless than covered in a wet sheet and risk hypothermia.

"Sasuke?" a feminine voice murmured.

The Uchiha froze. He turned around, and saw a dirt-covered kunoichi with tangled pink hair.

The figure of Haruno Sakura stood before him, her hand on a tree to support her weight. One leg of her black trousers was ripped open, and her torso was covered only by a ninja-undershirt with a dark sports bra.

Sasuke could find nothing to say. He only reacted when he saw the girl trip on a root and stumble forward.

The raven-haired ninja caught her. Sasuke felt how freezing her body was: no wonder, she didn't even have proper clothing on. Although Sasuke admired her figure, he was annoyed, and worried. Sasuke himself had his torso bare, but least he kept his shirt close to a fire to dry!

"Come on." Sasuke pulled her towards the fire.

Sakura gulped. She shuddered within his arms. "A-are you mad at me?" she asked.

Sasuke opened his mouth a little, but quickly closed it. The truth was that he was too dazed and confused to offer any sort of verbal reaction. Besides, Sakura looked truly repentant, almost as if she were about to cry. Scolding her now would probably tempt her to run away again.

No, keeping his mouth shut was the best option. As Kakashi always said, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

Sasuke nudged her to sit. It was better for the both of them if they ate and warmed themselves before returning to Konoha. Sakura looked terrified, and was just as low on energy as he was. If he gave her a bit of hospitality, maybe he could calmly lead her back. "Warm yourself by the fire," Sasuke ordered. "I'll go catch more breakfast."

He listened to her silence as walked to the lake. His chakra-covered foot splashed onto the surface. 'If she attempts to leave, I'll knock her unconscious,' his inner thoughts steamed.

Sasuke carefully glanced back. Sakura slid off her wet sandals, and was now drying her feet near the fire. Her hand stroked over the exposed leg to warm it up.

The raven-haired ninja nearly tripped into the lake. Sasuke turned away quickly, and readjusted his control of walking on the water. He stabbed a fish underwater with a kunai.

Sasuke walked back, and sat down next to Sakura. He quickly cleaned and gutted the fish, and thrust a clean stick through it for a roast. He handed Sakura the already-cooked one from the fire.

Sakura blinked. She looked confused, as if not understanding what to do with the fish.

"Take it," Sasuke said. Sakura seemed hesitant. "Eat it!" he harshly ordered — the girl jumped. "I'll have the next one," Sasuke quickly explained, lowering his tone of voice.

The pink-haired girl only nodded. She took it in her hands, and made a hesitant nibble with her blue lips. Sasuke noticed that she didn't even graze the meat.

This was just ridiculous, Sasuke thought. The young man angrily grabbed the fried fish away from her, and ripped a piece off with his teeth. He then took a hold of Sakura's shoulders. If she was not willing to eat properly, he was going to _force_ it down her throat.

Sasuke didn't know what came over him. He was infuriated at her one moment. And at the next moment, he found himself pushing fried fish into Sakura's mouth — with his tongue. Id est, he was kissing her.

Sasuke watched Sakura's green eyes open wide. She probably was taken aback at his display of affection. No surprise there... he was known as the human ice cube. Sasuke himself was jolted, wondering what possessed his body to do this. Worry plagued him about this decision. Would Sakura accept him still? It had been bad enough when Sasuke barely brushed his lips over her cheek in front of that old couple in the marketplace, but this was something much more serious and _real _than an act!

Sakura's eyes softly closed in heavenly bliss. Her hands trailed up Sasuke's bare chest, and wrapped around his neck.

'What the HELL are you doing?' Sasuke's inner pride roared. 'This is a bit extreme and too _forward_ for your image, don't you think?'

'To hell with pride,' the foreign voice scoffed. 'You've watched too long; you've waited too long. Nobody else is seeing you because you're out in the WILDERNESS! Sakura seems to understand!'

A roll of dried leaves crackled within the fireplace.

Sasuke couldn't resist anymore. He lowered Sakura down next to the fire, devouring her mouth in a raging kiss. This was exactly what he imagined doing with Sakura for weeks... or months... okay, so he at least entertained the thought a year in advance. He probably was a little sloppy with it, as he had absolutely no prior experience — but considering how Sakura gave no complaint, Sasuke could practice all he wanted.

A strong aroma hung in the air. Sasuke's eyes opened slightly. Was that Sakura? He did not see her as the perfume-wearing type, especially when she was out in the wilderness. Come to think of it, no kunoichi wore perfume except for undercover purposes...

Sasuke quickly drew his face away. His hands kept a firm grip on Sakura's shoulders. He was confused, frustrated, and angry all at once. "You..."

A lazy, seductive air touched Sakura's green eyes. "What is it, Sasuke?" she gently asked.

Sasuke glanced at the fire. Flames licked at a bunch of weeds. He did not remember placing them there. The ninja tried to get up. His leg muscles wouldn't move.

The blood ran cold in Sasuke.

A low chuckle came from Sakura. She drew up gracefully before the ninja, unaffected by the powerful scent. "Is the incense too strong for you, Sasuke-_kun_?"

Sasuke's wrists shook. He was paralyzed. 'Damn. DAMN!'

A smirk drew across the girl's face. She crouched down at the immobile teenager, and stroked his chin. Her hand was as cold as ice.

"I am the demon Utsushi," she whispered. Her legs gelled together into a long, glistening fish tail. Her face sharpened. Lips reddened to the color of cherries, and cheekbones heightened until she was completely unrecognizable as Sakura. "Whatever I do, whatever I appear, is a reflection of all your fears and desires."

A red area swirled around her neck, and red marks crossed her skin. Sasuke recognized the pattern as the 'heaven' seal which Orochimaru had cursed him with. The demon's abnormally long nails drew across her face, and it morphed into Itachi.

Sasuke couldn't even shout in anger. The fumes of the burning plants stifled his voice.

The female demon changed her face back to a Sakura with perfect white skin. "I've come across many humans who've lost their loved ones to drowning." Her face neared that of Sasuke. "Have you heard of the little mermaid? Mer-people were beings whose upper-body was human, but the lower half was a fish." She waved her tail flirtatiously.

Sasuke ordered himself to move. Yet his limbs were still rigid in place. What in the world was happening?

Utsushi laughed softly at Sasuke's attempts to flee. He couldn't even activate his vocal cords. Her own slick tail grew out, and dipped into the lake. "There was once a young mermaid, whose curiosity for the human world was greater than anything else. Her first visit to the surface of the ocean was when she was fifteen. She spotted a ship, and swam up to it. She saw a human prince, and instantly fell in love with him. Later she saved him from drowning."

'Utsushi means Reflection,' Sasuke thought. 'This demon pries into people's emotions to drive them mad and drain their chakra...' The ninja tried to crank his neck around. Something dense pinched his skin. It felt like... metal chains?

Utsushi shook a reprimanding finger. "Now, now, it gets better. Do you know what the little mermaid did to be with him? She sold her voice to the sea-witch, in exchange for a potion that would give her legs. The conditions were that if the mermaid failed to win the prince's heart, she'd turn into sea-foam. She took the potion, pulled herself up on the beach, and drank it. The instant she tasted the drink, it felt like a knife cutting through her tail — she fainted from the very pain. And when the prince discovered her and helped her to walk, the little mermaid realized that every step felt like walking on sharp blades." Utsushi smirked. "Mute. Yet she stayed at his side like a faithful handmaid. She even learned how to dance. Brave little one, don't you agree?"

Sasuke tried to move his arms. They weren't tingling, so they weren't asleep — but what was keeping him from moving? It was probably _not_ the raw incense. Such a quantity, although it dazzled him at first, was certainly not enough to keep him immobile for this long. The air and his bloodstream should have cleared up by now.

"This is the rich part, though," the demon murmured. "The prince had remembered _someone_ rescuing him from drowning, and he wished to marry that girl — but he never connected it with the little mermaid. Instead, he thought it was the princess of another country." Utsushi let off a bubbly laugh. "The prince had even told the little mermaid beforehand that if he didn't find the mysterious rescuer, he'd marry _her_ instead. But he met the princess, and his little mind 'clicked', as it were."

Sasuke's eyes adjusted for a brief moment. There were wisp-like, transparent chains over his limbs. How strange: they just appeared, and he had not even turned on his Sharingan. Sasuke looked up at the monster, as if patiently waiting for her to continue the story. In truth, he was just trying to figure out what this new sight was. Observing the surroundings would give him some time.

The dark-eyed ninja observed the lake behind Utushi. There was an unconscious man floating in the water. But what was strange was that the waves did not slosh around the body. Instead, the current passed right through him. 'A ghost?'

"At the wedding feast, the little mermaid danced beautifully with the thought of death in her heart. She knew that the sunbeams of the next day would kill her." The demon's face grew menacing. "She could not sleep that night, so she just sat on deck. She then saw her mermaid sisters waving towards her from the ocean. They handed her a dagger. 'We have sacrificed our hair to the sea-witch for this,' they told her. 'You must plunge it into the heart of the prince. Once his blood sprays on your legs, you will become a mermaid again. You will be able to live out your life for another three hundred years, just like all of our kind.' Her sisters disappeared under the waves.

"The little mermaid walked to the royal bedroom, and she saw the bride and bridegroom sleeping peacefully. The prince was murmuring the princess's name in his sleep. The mermaid raised the dagger with a shaking hand above the prince — and then she threw it in the waves. She couldn't do it.

"The mermaid went to the deck of the ship. At the first gleam of the sun, she threw herself to the waters. Her body dissolved into sea-foam." Utushi smiled. She cupped Sasuke's face, forcing him to look straight at her. "Do you know what moral of the story is?" she asked. "The mermaid fell for the wrong person. Your Sakura fell for the wrong person, because you are a spoiled, ignorant prince, who can't see past the end of his—"

"Shut up." Sasuke's head tilted upward, his black eyes glaring.

Utsushi stilled. The human talked! He was not even supposed to move his neck.

With shaking control, Sasuke infused chakra in his palm, and_ grabbed _onto the ghost-like chain. The ninja didn't even care if his hand was giving off an eerie, gray aura. He would use anything to get out of the clutches of a mermaid or whatnot. Sasuke kept his mind calm as he yanked on the metal — the ethereal chains broke away from the ground, and disappeared entirely.

The young man flipped himself up to the boulder, picking up his backpack. He slid out a blade, and flipped it open into a Fuuma Shuriken. "Interesting story. But I don't feel like dying."

An angry snarl came from Utsushi, revealing two rows of jagged, shark-like teeth. Her skin turned a cold blue. She always narrated stories to her victims to draw out their tasty anger and despair — but somehow, this raven-haired boy had cooled down enough, thus allowing him to rest and rejuvenate. He even went a step further by escaping her trap.

"You... you unfeeling bastard!" she screamed.

"Correct." Sasuke leapt up into the air out of the demon's reach. He had figured out how to keep himself from being drained by the mermaid. If Utsushi fed off the emotional extremes of wants and fears, all Sasuke had to do was follow the path of moderation. In other words, be cool. He could mourn for Sakura later. Right now he had to _live_.

Sasuke raised the steel blades. He flung the Fuuma Shuriken towards the mutant fish.

Utsushi spat out a jet of water, pushing the spinning weapon off-course. A second Fuuma Shuriken appeared in the first one's shadow — the Kage-shuriken no Jutsu. It gouged into her shoulder, letting black blood flow.

Utsushi yanked the shuriken out of her arm. The weapon disappeared in a puff of smoke, the Kage-shuriken it was. A monstrous hiss came through her jagged teeth. The youkai dragged her tailed body over the cold rocks, and splashed into the lake's water.

Sasuke touched back on the ground. He pulled the original Fuuma Shuriken from the rocky beach. 'Did she run?'

"Foolish little brother."

Sasuke grew rigid. He turned around to see his murderous brother, Uchiha Itachi, staring at him coolly on the shore. Sasuke's eyes automatically turned crimson.

A pain shot into Sasuke. The Sharingan always drained chakra. For a moment, he saw that the core of Itachi's body consisted of a long fishtail: it was only an illusion.

Before Sasuke could counter-react, a nailed hand grasped his throat. Utsushi leered next to his face. "That's much better," she cooed at the dark-eyed shinobi. "It was my initial mistake to rely on your immediate grief, rather than delve into something more long-term. The deeper pains are usually the more uncontrollable if you suppress them for so long..."

The pseudo-Itachi tilted his head to the side, as if studying his younger brother's progress. He didn't seem all that impressed. After all, that was exactly what Sasuke _imagined_ Itachi's reaction to be. Even the monologue was perfect.

"You were seduced by a demon disguised as your former teammate, and you didn't even turn on your Sharingan?" he asked. "And you're supposed to avenge the _Uchiha_, by killing me? Pathetic." He held up a hand and studied his purple nails, as if his manicure was more important than his own brother's life.

'CALM DOWN!' Sasuke ordered himself. Sure, his Sharingan had told him that it was only a hallucination. But that coolness of his older brother's face just simmered an uncontrollable rage within Sasuke. Itachi's memory was his most powerful motivation, and yet his greatest weakness.

The mermaid dug her nails into Sasuke's white skin, drawing blood. "I should strangle you quickly instead of draining you to the end," she decided. "You annoyed me when you pulled off the chains, but now I pity you. I'll allow you to join your family and beloved in the afterlife."

Her powerful fingers constricted his airway. Sasuke's dark eyes widened from the pain.

"Nunagawa!" a different voice echoed.

Utsushi glanced to the side.

The watery form of a dragon erupted from the lake. The moving sculpture foamed at the jaws, and its tail whipped back and forth like the turns and bends of a roaring river. Utsushi screamed at the sight. She uncurled her hand from Sasuke's neck. The mermaid evaded a direct hit, but the wave pushed her back.

Sasuke experienced a stiff rush of water, like when a wave overcame a swimmer in the ocean. A glob of air escaped his mouth before he closed it tight. He felt the unpleasant burn of water up his nose. Sasuke's dark eyes caught a blur underwater: the shimmering outline of a dragon passed by, before lifting up into a swarm of tiny bubbles.

Sasuke burst his head of the lake surface. He coughed and gasped, taking in much-needed air. Anything with the resemblance to a dragon was gone.

However, Sasuke did see Gamabunta. The toad sat on the lakeshore with a petite, blue-haired girl on top of him.

Hinata jumped off the giant amphibian. "Go fetch Uchiha-san." The Priestess then faced the beached mermaid, who was ten meters away from the lake. Utsushi snapped her jaws threateningly at Hinata.

Hinata's Byakugan zoomed in. This youkai's chakra was too high; she would have to call upon another spirit, and quickly. She lifted up one arm, her hand glowing with white chakra. She knew what name to call. "Hafusono!"

A flash of green appeared in front of Hinata. It formed into a man with black, straight hair and a sturdy jaw-line, much like that of the First Hokage. His kimono was woven of moss and leaves. Hinata had called upon the spirit of the Forest of Death.

Hafusono twirled a gnarled wooden staff between his hands. " 'Hafu' stands for 'hafuri', the sacrifice," the forest-guardian said, "and 'sono' is the garden. My name reflected the blood of many ninja spilled on my forest." He threw himself towards Utsushi. "Taste it."

His staff pushed through the mermaid's back.

Utsushi let off a blood-curdling scream. The hole in her chest ate away at her flesh like acid. She fell into the lake, her tail whipping back and force.

Hafusono warped away at the very moment his weapon touched Utsushi's blood. By the contract, Hinata could only use one attack of a guardian-spirit at a time. But Hafusono was more than enough; Utsushi was weak compared to other youkai. The mermaid-demon was more of a scavenger on human emotions than a fighter who could defend herself.

Hinata swallowed, watching the depths of the water with her Byakugan. Utsushi's body turned into bubbles — the foam rose on the lake's surface.

Gamabunta slammed on the ground next to Hinata. He unrolled his tongue, letting a very tired and drool-drenched Sasuke go free.

Hinata let off a relieved sigh. Sasuke thought the same thing. 'It's over.'

Sasuke found his shirt draped over a dead stump. He peeled off the wet mass, and wrung the lake water out of it. Ironic, that he had initially hung it out to dry.

Hinata took out a small container from her jacket. She shook out a pill, and held it out to Sasuke. He looked at it. "Chibi-hyourougan," she told him. "I made it for recovery purposes, as normal soldier-pills have extreme side effects when ingested too often."

Sasuke took the pill without a single inquiry on its 'cutsy' name. Instead he asked her, "Where's Naruto?"

"Warashi-chan reported that you needed help," Hinata answered, "but Naruto-kun couldn't come because the team of medics captured him. As if they had been expecting him to leave too early." A dreamy look came across her face, as she thought about her boyfriend's chivalrous attempts to come along. While the medic-nin dragged him away, Naruto had called upon Gamabunta and gave the orders to escort her. There was touch of a sigh in Hinata's voice: "Naruto-kun must be tied up on the bed now..."

Sasuke turned away.

Hinata's cheeks flushed in realization. The dark-haired kunoichi looked down. Her last sentence made it sound like she was interested in sadomasochistic activities. 'That wasn't what I meant!' she wanted to explain to Sasuke. 'Naruto-kun and I... oh, no, no, NO!'

Had Sasuke noticed the Freudian slip, he either ignored it or didn't care. The Uchiha glared at his wet and crinkled shirt before tugging it back on. He leapt onto the giant toad with Hinata.

Hinata calmed down. The Priestess stroked a hand over the toad's head. "Gamabunta-san, please take us back to Konoha."

"Sure thing," Gamabunta answered. He sprung into action. "Oof-dah!"

Sasuke watched the trees go past. His black eyes were dry, unreadable. Halfway through the trip, he finally spoke.

"Hyuuga," Sasuke said, "how does the story of the little mermaid end?"

Hinata nearly fell off Gamabunta in shock.

Uchiha Sasuke asking Hyuuga Hinata about children's stories. Hoh boy. Hinata had always imagined Sasuke to be cold — like her cousin Neji, but with an even darker disposition. Sasuke had been orphaned in a terrible manner, and had a background with Orochimaru. Hinata was sure that if it weren't for the fact that she was Naruto's girlfriend, Sasuke would never have given her the time of day.

Sasuke waited for the answer patiently. He was only asking her, because he figured she would know better than Naruto. Besides, his rival would probably laugh at him for inquiring about a romantic fairy tale. It was just that the story seemed too tragic to end in that manner.

Hinata mentally shook her head. Leaving someone else's question hanging in the air was rude. "She turns into sea-foam," Hinata answered quietly. "The little mermaid threw herself in the ocean, and..."

A strange look crossed Sasuke's obsidian eyes. "Oh."

Recognition struck Hinata. She had said the wrong words. Even though she guessed correctly that Sasuke was the type to prefer the hard truth over a comfortable falsehood, Sakura's case was a fresh disaster that was too closely related.

"B-but," Hinata added quickly, "the mermaid gets the chance to go to heaven afterwards!" She twiddled her thumbs. "After her death, she served three-hundred years doing good deeds as a Daughter of the Air, and then achieved nirvana. Full enlightenment was something normal mer-folk never got, because they were minor kami of the ocean." A faint smile came from Hinata. "So even though she doesn't get the prince... it's not really a sad ending."

Sasuke's face tilted upward. "I suppose."

Awkward silence.

Hinata looked down. Yup: talking with her boyfriend's best friend was, and ever would be, one of the toughest things Hinata ever faced.

* * *

Naruto stared up at the ceiling. A rather irritated mood overcame him. And it was not just the fact that he was strapped to the hospital bed with a prudish schedule ruling from when he ate to when he did his business.

Two specters floated above Naruto's bed. "We meet again," one greeted the other. "This time, we _will_ crush the existence of Konoha! Operation #1213!"

Naruto twitched.

The Konoha hospital was haunted by ghosts.

It had taken all of Naruto's control to not yell when he began to see specters floating around. It just wasn't natural! Who knew that so many hungry spirits were not in the afterlife? After the initial scare, Naruto grew excited. He reasoned that it was kind of cool to be able to see ghosts.

Now the awe was completely gone. Most of the phantoms who hung around in this hospital were insane, dumb, or both.

For example, during his trip to the bathroom, Naruto had caught one ghost of a lecher sneaking the hallways. The apparition eyed the nurses, and had a go at grabbing their attention... as well as _other things_ that women possessed. The ghost's attempts at flirting: ignored. The living who heard his off-putting pickup lines: only Naruto, as a third-person observer. 'Do you believe in love at first sight,' the dead man asked one oblivious nurse huskily, 'or should I walk by again?'

The two spirits currently floating above Naruto were mumbling to each other, clearly unaware that somebody else had beaten them out in assassinating the Third Hokage. In other words, an outdated goal. They didn't even know that their secret meeting had an audience of one.

The first spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. "Now, once when that old man Sarutobi walks to the announcement area, we'll distract the ANBU by putting up explosives to this side! And then, the lamplights will flicker out because you'll pull the cord, and..."

'Hinata-chan,' Naruto prayed, 'please, _please_ come soon and throw these guys away with your nifty jewelry. I know my younger self was kind of dense... but listening to these ghosts is just rotting away the brains I have left!'

'But how are we going to pay for all the weapons?' the other ghost asked. 'Our budget is compromised.'

'Don't worry. After the revolution of Konoha, we'll FIX the budget!' his partner declared.

Naruto whistled. 'Now _that_ is ambitious. No wonder they haven't entered the next life.' He listened a few minutes more of pointless dialogue of these wannabe rebels, and then got bored.

Sure, Naruto was eager to be Hinata's bodyguard. He wanted to protect her. But Naruto would prefer not to have this ability to see and hear ghosts. Where were all the heroes of old, all the introspective evildoers? It seemed that all the interesting souls, virtuous and villainous alike, had parted from this world. Many of the ghosts left over either had powerful obsessions that kept them chained to Earth, or were just plain dumb to not realize that their physical bodies had already expired.

Naruto was plenty enough bothered by youkai. He knew; he was the landowner of one. At least one never had to fix a toilet if the tenant was a fox-demon.

Naruto began to struggle against the ninja-customized knotted ropes. The danger had passed Hinata; he could feel the completion of her mission. But that meant Sasuke would probably drop by the hospital for some medical treatment. And Naruto be damned if his rival saw him in this state. Trapped and strapped in his own bed.

The blond craned his neck towards the bedside table, where his pouch of ninja tools lay. The closest part of his body to the pouch was his head. The rest of him was tied up.

His arms were firmly strapped together against his torso. The blond attempted to pull them out. He turned red in the face.

'I only want to free myself from these stupid ropes.'

Like a worm, the ninja wiggled on his bed towards the ninja pouch. His wrists were tied behind his back, so using his hands was out of the question. His face neared the pouch... and was jolted back by an elastic rope.

Naruto took a breather. 'I can do this.' The spiky-haired chuunin tried again. His teeth nipped at the bag — and nudged it away. Naruto groaned, before pushing himself to move a little more forward.

_Crink._ Naruto held down a cry of pain. 'I think I just pulled a muscle I never knew existed.' He looked up at the ninja pouch, just five centimeters away from him. 'Move! Move!'

He bit on the cloth's corner. With triumph, he drew back to pull his supply of weapons onto the bed. Just when it was off the cabinet, the pouch flapped open. It scattered tiny shuriken, maki-bishi spikes, bags of explosives, and other little ninja tools all over the floor.

Naruto's lips tightened, muffling a snarl. He carefully pulled himself over the bed's edge. Blood rushed into his head as he neared his mouth towards one tiny shuriken on the ground. That was the only thing with a real blade; the kunai and larger shuriken were in their own holsters, which were set further away from the bed. Praying that his tongue wouldn't be cut, he bit one shuriken on its dull center.

'Okay. Weapon in place.' Not wanting to dangle partially upside down anymore, the chuunin craned his neck towards the ropes around his upper-arms. It took slow, single strokes, like when a knife was sharpened on the wet stone. The braided rope began to snap, thread by thread.

One rope fell to the floor, the first bind. Most of his body was still cocooned, but it was a start. He curled up, and began working on the knees. A tooth of the shuriken caught into his upper lip. It made Naruto flinch, and drop the tiny weapon from his mouth. 'Damn!'

But the rope was half-shaved. He put energy in his legs, and pulled them apart. The binding snapped.

Half-hanging from the mattress, Naruto extended his feet towards the ends of the elastic ropes tying his ankles. A toe curled over a hook, and lifted it out of its socket.

The sheets slipped. Naruto, still tied around his arms, fell off the mattress and towards the floor. The floor with all his maki-bishi spikes. 'Oh crap!'

The blond ninja twisted his wrist, and slid his left arm out of the ropes. His palm slammed on clean granite. His freed legs kicked off the edge of the bed. He was off. 'YES!'

Unfortunately, a one-hand-stand was a virtually impossible position.

Naruto fell on his back. Not a flat fall, because he landed on three maki-bishi. "Urgh!"

Tears threatened to well up as the spikes dug into his flesh. He used his one arm and two (partially) freed legs to stand up — but man, those spikes had smarted. The ninja picked up a kunai from the desktop, and sliced the remaining ropes from his bodice.

Standing amidst a littered hospital room, Naruto stood with raised arms. "The gymnast completes the routine!" he shouted.

Naruto then realized that the door was open.

Tsunade stood watching with a straight face. Her arms crossed over her enormous breasts.

Beads of cold sweat formed on Naruto. Punishment was coming...

The Hokage delivered her judgment. "4.5."

"...That's it?" he said weakly.

Tsunade scowled. "It was a good escape, especially with those customized ropes. But there was a little bit too much noise. And you hurt yourself on the maki-bishi." She motioned for him to sit on the bed. "I'll have to check your back. Not only those wounds, but any pressure-points which might have been affected."

Numb at the Hokage's rather facile reaction, the chuunin sat obediently on the mattress. Tsunade pulled up Naruto's shirt in the back. She did three pokes of the Chiyute no Jutsu to seal the punctures left by the maki-bishi. Her tan eyes caught a knot in one of his muscles. It was the cramp Naruto acquired in his struggle out of the bindings. Tsunade quickly undid it by jabbing her finger on it. The boy howled in pain.

"That's for trying to escape the hospital again," she said. Her finger then sank into another area. Naruto's cerulean eyes bugged out in surprise, before slowly closing. "And that's to keep you from escaping further."

Naruto did not answer. He was already snoozing on the bed.

Tsunade bent over to pick up the ninja-tools on the floor. Although she was the Hokage, she would not leave it to the hospital's non-shinobi personnel to clean up the dangerous items. Naruto had turned into a powerful ninja, and his weaponry had advanced. The problem was that he still put up a façade as a totally carefree spirit, so the doctors just assumed that keeping his gear in the same room would be okay.

The Hokage stilled when she picked up the last maki-bishi. She drew herself up. Her voice was directly towards the open window. "Out, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya hung upside-down from the roof outside. He flipped through the open window, his geta-sandals clanging on the floor. "How did you notice me this time?"

A vein pulsed on Tsunade. "I can feel it when people stare at my backside."

Jiraiya made a disgusted face. "Like your ass is worth anything —" Tsunade's glare made him halt in speaking his mind. He coughed. "I... wanted to check in on Naruto."

Tsunade sighed. "He's more than fine. I just hit a pressure-point that would make him sleep."

"But it's only noon," Jiraiya pointed out. He caught the look on the Hokage's face. "Then again, you're the doctor." He walked over to Naruto's bedside. His hand swiped up his kunai holster from the top of the cupboard. A three-pronged kunai slid out. "Kakashi gave him this, right?"

"Most probably," Tsunade said. "It's too heavy of a weapon for regular chuunin to acquire."

"Naruto still doesn't know who its original owner was." Jiraiya turned to the Godaime. "Are we going to tell him?"

"No," Tsunade said. "At least, not yet. He wants to become Hokage for his own sake. Blood relations shouldn't matter. In fact, the stress might kill him."

The old lecher took a peek at his former teammate's rack, before continuing. "I've picked up something of the Akatsuki's whereabouts." He pulled out a scroll. He unrolled it before Tsunade. "They're holding silent for now. It's obviously a forced extension of their activities."

"Any reason?" Tsunade asked.

Jiraiya's face was cool. "I caught hold of one letter that slipped, and decoded it." He looked intently at Tsunade. "You already know that the Akatsuki is targeting the powerful demons, like the Kyuubi. But recently, they appear to be setting their sights on other sources of power. And to make things worse, the apprentices of the Konoha Sannin are included in those being watched, bizarre as it may seem. As enemies or potential recruits, I don't know." His eyes turned sad. "It could be that Sakura..."

Tsunade's fist tightened. "Are you saying that my apprentice was murdered by them?" Powerful mind-control jutsu existed, and certainly a few members of the Akatsuki were capable.

"Perhaps... but not necessarily," Jiraiya said. "But she could have known something. Why else would she run off? And don't forget that she was absent for over a year."

"The hunter-nin are still on her trail," Tsunade reminded him, and herself. She pulled down several strands of golden hair to hide her eyes. Her stubborn refusal to believe Sakura's suicide was clear. As a medic-nin, and a teacher, she needed a physical body before concluding a death. "So you're suggesting that Naruto and Sasuke might be in that organization's sights." Her normally alto voice turned unusually high, like the sneer of an ill-disposed teenage girl. "Does Uchiha Itachi want a family reunion?"

"This is no laughing matter," Jiraiya intoned. He saw Tsunade lower her eyes — she had immediately regretted displaying her bitterness. "But anyway," Jiraiya continued on an official note, "it seems like their change of plans is due to some sort of recent prophecy."

Tsunade snorted. "Aren't prophecies supposed to be done centuries in advance?"

Jiraiya frowned. "It seems like you've been reading too much fantasy lately."

Tsunade slammed her palm on the wall. "I don't read anything except paperwork and medical books nowadays!"

The old man cackled. "Oh, I see! No reading for pleasure anymore, eh? Stressed out from the Hokage-work. I have something that will lighten your mood." Jiraiya pulled out an orange book. It elicited a groan from Tsunade. "Hey, hey, don't get too judgmental just yet," he said defensively. He tossed her the new Icha Icha volume, which she caught. "The heroine of this volume is based on you."

This threw the Hokage off. "What?"

Jiraiya scratched his reddening cheek. "Well... the most interesting parts of her personality, I took from you."

Tsunade's mind was torn between pounding Jiraiya for watching her too much, and telling him that it was kind of... well, sweet. She looked hesitantly at the volume. A corny, supermarket-romance-novel picture was on its cover. The heroine? Was this some kind of joke? Well, he wouldn't have mocked her in print if he actually gave a copy.

"Read it on your leisure," the hermit said. Before Tsunade could decide to bestow a pounding, Jiraiya escaped through the open window.

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	26. Breaking Point

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own the _for Dummies_ series. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Finally. After driving, looking at museums, returning home, experiencing writer's block and a cold, I have come with a new chapter. :sigh: I have my best friend to thank for lifting up my spirits.

"Quotations"f

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 26: Breaking Point

* * *

"Running formation!" the ANBU-trainer barked. He pointed at every person, mentioning everything that could be improved upon. The fact that almost all were at their physical limit was inconsequential. "The redhead over there! Cover that mane with a bandanna; that's what Genma does!" Flying through the cold air, he turned around 180 degrees, and pointed at another victim for his criticism. "You there, with the thick boots!"

One of the ninja glanced back — and nearly screamed when he saw the trainer just barely slash his neck with a kunai. He launched a kick into the higher-ranking shinobi, only to have the strike completely blocked.

"Wear normal sandals instead of clunky boots if you can't kick with them!" the captain scolded.

The outside air nipped around the group of twenty ANBU-hopefuls. This year's winter seemed earlier than usual, making business and commerce slow to a lull. This, in turn, gave the Leaf ninja more opportunity to train — or at least, that's what the intensive teachers _liked_ to think. Truth be told, most ninja did not want to train in the coldest months of the year. Especially outside.

With the first round of ANBU-training done, the remaining shinobi received a new instructor. Needless to say, he was a slave-driver. His students hated him, yet he was the best there was in Konoha for jump-starting elite ninja into powerhouses. It was like a two-month boot camp.

Naruto softly landed on the tan, drying grass. He rubbed his bare hands together in his pause. The captain had told the trainees yesterday not to wear gloves... but Naruto began to think that he just gave that order to torture them. He renewed his dash with tightened fists, hoping to finish this marathon without frostbite. 'You'd think I'd remember after Kakashi's bell-test...'

(( "Oh, and don't eat breakfast. You'll throw up." ))

Naruto noticed Sasuke running ahead of him in the shortcut. "Hey, Sasuke!"

Ignored.

A brief flash of envy went into Naruto when he saw the thin, black gloves the Uchiha wore. His rival had beaten him in wits again — Sasuke had known well that the chill of winter could be a numbing enemy of any soldier, and simply had _ignored_ the orders, ANBU-trainer or not. Between Naruto and Sasuke, at least one of them kept some common sense in weather.

Not to say that all was perfect. Sasuke was beginning to look more haggard as of late. The Uchiha's skin was no longer white anymore — it was more like a light, grayish blue. Dark shadows formed under his eyes.

One month had passed since 'that incident' with Sakura, as the Hokage labeled it. Kakashi had informed Naruto earlier that Sasuke had been going through a slight depression. It was difficult to recognize at first glance. The raven-haired ninja shut himself at home, spent long hours training solo, and avoided social activities — which was all typically Sasuke. But when Naruto greeted Sasuke in the streets, and the Uchiha strode into the dango-shop as if he hadn't heard, Naruto realized that there was something wrong. Sasuke would never walk into a dango-shop; that place dripped with saccharine goodness. The avenger hated sweets, aside from the gluey fermented soybeans known as nattou.

Naruto weaved himself through the tree-trunks, and caught up with Sasuke.

The Uchiha let off a glance. To Naruto's relief, he didn't take off towards a different trail for running.

The blond ninja felt his tongue oddly tied. "So..." If Naruto's body had not been preoccupied with running laps, he would almost be tearing out his hair. Putting on a fake grin was getting harder and harder to do these days, especially before a downed Sasuke. "Have you been sleeping enough?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Not really," he said, as if it were trivial. To be exact, he had had two hours of sleep before taking this physical test. In normal lingo, a physical meant having a doctor draw out various bodily fluids and test them for any chemical imbalance. In the ANBU, a physical meant training in the dark, early morning. To check these ninja for chemical imbalance was sort of a waste of time — if their minds were not warped (which was what one hoped for among elite ninja), then the effects most often would show up in some physical form or another.

The ANBU-trainer turned to Naruto. "You, stop wearing orange. You look like a fruitcake!"

That hit a nerve. "Excuse me, but I look _awesome_ in orange!" Naruto shouted. "At least I don't shave my head bald as an egg in cold weather!"

"WHAT did you say?" the captain snarled. "Repeat that!"

Sasuke winced at the yelling. Not only at the noise, but what Naruto could receive as a punishment for that comment. The ANBU-trainer _wasn't_ shaving his head; he was bald because of a recent radiation treatment. Evidently, Naruto did not know that, or he wouldn't have said what he said.

Sasuke pulled on Naruto's shoulder, preventing him from stepping up to the trainer. "Shut your mouth," he hissed, before Naruto could comply with the order to repeat the comment.

Naruto sputtered. "But he just told me —"

"No, he's right," the man decided quickly. He turned to Naruto, with a harsher glare and a renewed order: "Shut up, Brat." Several hand-seals whizzed by. The trainer ran to the side, his form melting into the barren trees. In truth he was still running along and monitoring his 'herd'.

Naruto wanted to kill Sasuke. "Brownnoser," he whispered in the Uchiha's direction.

Sasuke nearly rolled his eyes. "Just _make_ these two hours of practice without yelling. It'll be easier for everyone if there are fewer whiners." The blond shinobi harrumphed in response.

An hour later, the captain released the crew from the laps, push-ups, and other grueling sets of exercises. "That's all for today. Dismissed."

Naruto and Sasuke managed to walk out coolly as the group dispersed. If they showed a bit of agony in front of the trainer, their score for entering the ANBU would go down. The only hint of their exhaustion was the sweat on their brows, which quickly evaporated into the cool, dry air of the early morning.

Naruto breathed onto his bare hands, hoping to heat them up. He walked over to his bag lying next to a tree. The blond ninja dug in, pulled out a bottle of water and chugged it, enjoying how the liquid hit the back of his throat.

Nearby was Sasuke, who was sliding off his forehead protector. The Uchiha dabbed a hand-size towel on his brow.

"How did that practice feel?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke shrugged. "It was okay," he answered blankly.

Relief swelled inside Naruto. 'A complete, non-imperative sentence. He must be recovering!'

"Don't forget your papers!" the captain shouted.

Sasuke and Naruto paused. Two objects projected towards their heads like ammo. The ninja caught them in their hands.

Naruto examined the object. It was a thick wad of paper, with paperclips and string binding it up. The blond unlaced it to study its contents. "Math?"

Naruto was confused, and a little nervous. Although he could apply rough geometry to projectile weapons, and arithmetic to personal finances, algebra was where he rolled downhill in mathematics.

"You have two weeks to do it."

Sasuke compared his papers to those of Naruto. The captain had gone so far as to give them different sets of questions, ensuring that they couldn't cheat off the other.

"Two weeks..." Naruto squeezed the packet in his hand, as if excited for this challenge — albeit sweat was already dampening the paper. "Plenty enough time!"

Sasuke had already jammed his homework in his bag, and began to walk home.

The ANBU-trainer stilled, and glanced back. "Oh, ho — Uchiha knows what he's doing, huh?"

Sasuke halted in his tracks. Naruto suddenly noticed that the other trainees were watching. 'Wait,' Naruto thought, 'Wasn't Sasuke the only one who wasn't insulted during practice?'

The captain sneered. "Don't think that acting all tragic because you lost your clan gets you favor in the ANBU. If anything, it makes you annoying and vulgar."

A chill passed over the trainees. That was too harsh, in Naruto's opinion. The trainer calmly walked away. Sasuke was motionless, as if his body had turned into a statue of ice.

The other trainees looked away when the realized the show was over. "All's fair in love and war," one of them mumbled.

Naruto shook in fury. He wanted to yell at the captain, and perhaps his classmates. Didn't they know how much stress Sasuke was going through right now?

"Drop it, Naruto," the raven-haired shinobi intoned.

The blond ninja pointed at the trainer's retreating back. "But—"

"I don't care." Sasuke turned his head a little: Naruto saw that his eyes were colder than ever. "I honestly don't care."

* * *

"Haaaaah!"

Hinata held out her palms, her fingers curling over what first seemed like thin air. Long, thin wisps of bluish-white chakra began to collect between her hands.

Next to her, a boy in a dirty kimono watched carefully. "Loosen your fingers a bit," Zashiki Warashi instructed. "Breathe carefully while you hold the ki."

Hinata exhaled slowly, and lightened the stiff position of her hands. The lines of energy thrashed out chaotically. Hinata let off a squeak. A tiny white ball of chakra started to form, yet it almost immediately burst like a soap bubble within her hands.

"Good start!" Warashi complimented. "I saw a brief circle before you got scared. Don't worry if the aura-strings whip out at first. That always happens when you're a novice. Just remember: control jams together the energy, but a loose mind makes it freer and more powerful."

The Priestess looked at her hands. The first signs of a chakra-burn were showing around the fingertips. "So you're saying... I have too much control?"

The ghost hesitated. "Well... kinda. Concentrating this white ki is a little different than normal chakra. When you're a priestess, you sort of have to let it possess _you_ and go with the flow, rather than you possessing _it_. That's what shaman do when they invite spirits into them as a medium, see.

"You can purify spirits and have them as allies, but only if you place your trust in them to take some of the control. It's a fine balance — please them enough as to receive help, but also give them the autonomy they want. Some demons, like the nine legendary ones, will never bend."

Hinata sat down on a rock. The stone chilled to the touch. "Thus, the limited calling-contracts. Hafusono-sama and Nunagawa-sama..." She shivered at the thought: a whole forest and a river could assist her in battle. Even though their agreements were constricted in many respects, Hinata still deemed it an honor. "Are there demons in foreign countries, Warashi-chan?"

"Of course," the specter answered. "So far, they're still asleep." He pulled out a scroll from the chest-space of his kimono. "But look what I got out of the spirit world — an oracle of which major-demons will attack which places for the next year!"

Hinata looked at the item with suspicion. "Where in the world did you get that, Warashi-chan?" In her person opinion, such a message seemed too convenient to be true. A whole year?

"I got it in a trade with a demon, in return giving him the whereabouts of a large pickle-vat. He had this strange obsession with preserved human food." He twirled up the transparent scroll, which transformed into a black, squiggly mass. Hinata could literally see the words unravel and twist around Warashi's hand. "But never mind. Give me pen and paper as an offering, Hinata-neechan!"

Hinata dug into her backpack, and fished out a scrap of paper with a pen. She laid a nearby rock onto the leaflet as a paperweight.

Warashi twirled around the rope of words through the air like a lasso. "Thanks." He shot his calligraphy-laced arm at the pen. The ribbon of versed words and poetry shot from his finger, and whirled into the pen like water in a drain. The apparatus jumped up, and began to scribble the paper.

Within a minute, the writing utensil dropped dead on its side. Hinata put away the rock weight, and picked up the sheet.

x

As winter lands, and the new year breaks

enter where the water washes over rocks.

Greet your former enemies with renewed trust

and you will find the image of your true opponent.

x

Take refuge under the shadows of your two demons —

keep them close to you and to each other.

Both are prized jewels, on each a curse has been laid.

The more you keep them safe in mind, the more you will succeed.

x

Hinata rolled up the sheet of paper. She was already confused with the first two verses. Two demons — were they referring to Hafusono and Nunagawa? She needed to think about this more before she read further.

Hinata went still, sensing an evil eye. Her hands folded together into a seal. 'Byakugan!'

Forest. The Ninja Academy Trees. Hospital. More forest. The Hyuuga manor.

Hinata's vision zoomed in. One elder — was he her great uncle, or her great-great uncle? — sat with crossed legs on top of a large boulder in the training air, his eyes closed in firm meditation.

Hinata suppressed a burst of laughter at the sight. 'Don't laugh! He could die of pneumonia!' Then again, there was little risk for ninja to catch that illness, much less die from it. He was quite healthy for his age.

Hinata looked forty degrees to the right of the mansion, and caught sight of Naruto — it seemed that his morning practice was done. A sparkle came in Hinata's eye. 'He's free! At least for this morning!' She deactivated her bloodline limit, and went to chase down her boyfriend.

* * *

Naruto clutched at his head, sagging down into the library chair. He had forgotten how wearying homework could be, staying up at night while trying to figure out this assignment.

How could two weeks go by so quickly?

Oh why the hell, of all things, did he try to wait out on this one? Naruto _never_ procrastinated on _anything_; more often than not he rushed into things too quickly. He had always been a working devil, especially when it came to learning and practicing new jutsu. If just concentrated his effort into a specific goal, and the clear path was training, training, training, he'd train until he got it right.

However, forcing oneself through did not apply to math and puzzles.

This assignment was nothing like the Rasengan-Factor in him. The training for that jutsu had gone extremely well in Naruto's case, due to several reasons: Jiraiya explained how to master it step-by-step, Tsunade bet her priceless necklace that Naruto couldn't figure it out within one week, and Kabuto later tried to attack Tsunade...

Jutsu-equations were different. When the ANBU-trainer handed over a stack of meaningless, seemingly pointless questions without any sort of instructions of how to work them, Naruto was completely stumped. And the approval of an instructor he despised was not the strongest motivation on the bench.

What was worse was that for the past two weeks, the captain kept on reminding Naruto about the assignment, practice after practice. One time, Naruto swallowed enough of his pride to ask the ANBU-trainer for a pointer.

(( "Don't worry, it's just the basics of jutsu-equations."

Naruto had to wonder, whether that was a smirk on the trainer's mouth.

"I'm not asking you to _invent_ stuff," the captain said with a wave of the hand. "If you do a little research in the library, you'll get it. Knowing even the basics helps a hell of a lot when predicting what attack comes next. It's like calculus: the beginning is really easy, and then it gets complicated as hell later." He pulled up his gear, and walked off. "Wasn't Kakashi your jounin-instructor when you were a genin? He'd know about it." ))

One thing the ANBU-trainer had failed to mention was that Kakashi was out for the whole month on higher rank missions. Naruto tried to ask around for jounin who knew that field of study, but the few who did seem knowledgeable were oddly secretive.

Naruto needed an instruction manual. That was it. Only when he was given a dependable, previously tested order of hand-seals, written in solid ink on a scroll sitting before him, could Naruto solve an analytical problem.

'If I don't hand this in tomorrow, the captain will fail me.' Naruto dropped his head onto the desk. 'I'd rather focus on becoming jounin — but then Sasuke'll think I gave up too easily. Damn it! I just want to prove that I'm _capable_ of it if I'm ever needed in the ANBU!'

The clock struck eight in the evening. Naruto still had twelve hours. But there were twenty sheets of equations. The first and only thing Naruto had jotted down was a rewrite of the original problem itself (the trainer had reminded the class to show their work).

'Keep your spirits up,' Naruto thought, pulling out the scrolls and books from the Konoha library. 'There's got to be some textbook or other that explains this equation-useless-junk.'

Every book he opened, every scroll he unrolled, seemed as useless as the last. This was getting frustrating. He noticed empty gaps in some of the shelves. 'The other guys in class must have checked them out in advance,' Naruto thought, a sinking feeling in his gut.

The clock chimed nine.

The blond shinobi heard a door open in the library. He decided to ignore it; this building was open until three in the morning, so nobody was kicking him out.

A familiar baritone sounded behind Naruto. "Hey."

Naruto quickly slammed down a book over his embarrassingly blank paper, and turned around in his seat. "Sasuke!" He put on a happy face to conceal his inner nervousness. "How's it going?"

"Did you receive something like this?" Sasuke asked quietly, holding a small package in his hand. "From Sakura?"

Naruto examined the box, and sighed. "Yeah. Five weeks ago." He turned around in his desk. "I got three scrolls, according to the will."

Sasuke pulled out one from the box, and showed Naruto the label: -_Elemental Jutsu Systems, Scroll II_-

"Did you get the first volume for this one?" Sasuke's voice held a mysterious tempo of haste. "I didn't find out that you were the other benefactor besides her parents, and so..."

Naruto grabbed the scroll from Sasuke's hands, and pulled it open. "Holy shit!" Naruto exclaimed. "Where the hell did Sakura get this? It's friggin' _hand-written_!"

"The first volume," Sasuke repeated. "You have it, right?"

"This could be expensive, if it's in calligraphy and all," Naruto observed, looking over the brushwork. "Maybe even an antique..."

"Focus a little, Idiot!" Sasuke hissed. "Do you have the first volume?"

Naruto paused, and bit his thumb in thought. "Isn't it illegal for genin to own this kind of information?"

Sasuke was at his wits' end. "I want the FIRST VOLUME!"

A unified, negative hiss erupted around them. Even though it was already night, the library was still being used, who either wanted to research information or find a relaxing book. Sasuke could feel glares from the staff shooting into him like darts.

"Um... Now that I think about it, there was a scroll with the same title," Naruto said nervously, hoping that he wouldn't be deemed responsible for Sasuke's rudeness. He hastily crammed his stuff into a backpack, and quickly left the floor. "It's at my house."

"Are you _sure_ you have it_?"_ Sasuke asked, going down the stairs two steps at a time.

"I don't remember exactly," Naruto said. "I kind of browsed through the scrolls once, and then decided to study them in detail later when I had more time..." Once on the main level, the two exited the building and ran towards Naruto's apartment.

'But why would Sakura-chan decide to split the volumes apart?' Naruto wondered. 'Maybe she didn't — the officials could have divvied them apart between me and Sasuke by accident.'

The blond pulled out a set of keys as soon as he saw the apartment complex approach his view. "Ah, home sweet home."

Sasuke studied the apartment — it was small, and the roof pieces were roughly thatched on. He landed next to Naruto at the door.

"Nice place," Sasuke commented.

"Thanks." Naruto swung the door open.

Sasuke followed in, and immediately wanted to take back what he had just said. Naruto's living room was piled high with junk! Well, not exactly junk; most of it was weaponry and scrolls and books and other things — but damn, Naruto could easily purchase a bookshelf. Or throw an old notebook or a rusting kunai to the recycling. 'Didn't Naruto hear that the town blacksmiths are asking for old weapons because of an iron shortage?'

Sasuke picked up a plastic bowl from the table. He realized it was an old container for instant ramen. He glanced around for a wastepaper basket. He spotted one, already brimmed full with rubbish. The raven-haired ninja crushed the contents down into a more compact form with his fist.

"You ought to get a maid if you can't clean this yourself," Sasuke said, disposing of the old ramen cup. His mind twitched at the mess; just looking at it was nauseating. 'Actually, a genin team would be a better option,' he commented silently. 'Who knows what kind of dangerous material is around here.'

"I haven't had time to clean it up recently," Naruto said. "Plus, the garbage man sort of avoids this district. Some moron on the second floor keeps on forgetting to dispose his syringes in separate biohazard-containers." Naruto dug around for the box. "Ah, here it is!"

Sasuke was hesitant. "Is it still clean?"

"Yes, it is!" Naruto roughly answered. "What kind of pig do you think I am?" He reopened the box, and his fingers fumbled around with the contents. He lifted up one scroll, and read its label carefully. "Here it is! _Elemental Jutsu Systems, Scroll I _— hey!" Naruto spun around before Sasuke could yank the item out of his hand. "Are you trying to steal it?" Naruto asked incredulously. "It's Sakura-chan's keepsake to me; you have your own!"

"Let me borrow it, just for one night," Sasuke bargained. "Please."

Naruto blinked. He looked at Sasuke, and realized something.

"Did you also procrastinate on the assignment?" Naruto asked.

There was a dark silence.

Sasuke looked away. A tiny, angry bite of the lip was there.

"...You really did," Naruto concluded. He swung his bag over his shoulder, and then walked to the door. "Come on."

Sasuke looked up to see his rival leaving. "Where are you going?"

"We'll go to your place, and then get back to the library."

An annoyed expression crossed Sasuke's face with the thought of Naruto coming over to see where he lived. "Why?" the Uchiha asked scathingly.

"Because my place is too messy for a study-session, and we need to pick up your homework!" Naruto held up the scroll. "Besides, I'm legally in possession of this." The blond ninja peeled the flap of the scroll open, and studied the contents. "The complete set may be our only hope."

Sasuke wanted to throttle something, or someone. One tiny voice in his brain said that he ought to feel grateful that Naruto was even offering to share the first volume with him for one night, but he just counter-argued that Naruto wouldn't understand the contents of it on his own, so there was no point of Naruto possessing it.

Continuing his walk to Sasuke's living quarters, Naruto carefully reread the first section of the scroll. The blond froze in his tracks. "Hey, Sasuke," Naruto murmured. "You've got to see this."

The avenger looked on the paper where Naruto pointed. With swishing elegance, the full-length title of the volume was brushed on. _-Elemental Jutsu Systems: Jutsu-Equations for Morons -_

The teenage boys stared at the heading.

Sasuke unrolled the second volume. From the shaking of the Uchiha's fingers, it was clear to Naruto that the complimentary volume held a similar insulting title.

Naruto began to laugh. "That title is so _ingenious_!"

Sasuke's mouth tightened. "She's mocking us." A little noise like a snort escaped from his nose. He couldn't curse Sakura for handing him such a book; she was already dead, and his karma was already in a compromised position. "Let's just read the damn thing and hope it works."

"Right." Naruto looked at his watch. They had a little more than ten hours left.

* * *

A chipmunk-like sneeze erupted in the winter air.

Minoru looked at the shivering form next to him. "A cold already?"

The rounin sniffed. "Either that, or someone's spreading rumors about me."

"Isn't there more detail in that saying?" Potamos asked, entering a building. She passed under the draping cloth with the hiragana of "yu" printed on. The syllable alone was the word for 'hot water', indicating that the building was a bathhouse. "Sneeze once, and people are speaking good of you. Sneeze twice, and they're speaking ill of you."

"That's just a silly superstition," Minoru argued. The blond shrine-worker pushed several notes of money towards the owner of the bathhouse. "One adult, two children."

"Very well," the manager said. He gestured to the two doors to the back. "The men's area is to the left side, the women's to the right. Please relax and enjoy our facilities."

"Thank you," Minoru said. He and the rounin slowly stepped to the left side, and Potamos skipped into the other door.

The manager of the bathhouse sat down, and picked up a magazine from the table. A frosty wind drafted into the room. The owner got up from his desk. He walked over to the door, and closed it completely shut. The owner didn't notice one person sneaking behind him: the rounin madly rushed from the men's bathhouse to the women's.

Potamos hummed a ditty to herself. She peeled off her human clothes, and folded them neatly in the basket. She heard a foot touch into the dressing room.

The rounin quickly pulled off the straw hat, and began to strip off the simple montsuki. "What the hell — this shirt is _sewn_ together!" The black hakama-pants were kicked off. "What's with kendo uniforms nowadays?" Locks of silky, pink hair dropped slightly past the shoulders.

The water-demon giggled. "Wanna join me, Sacchan?"

Sakura fumbled with the binding of her chest. "Gladly. I haven't had a bath in days." She turned to Potamos. "Go ahead; I have to work on this." Potamos nodded, before skipping off to the steaming room.

With some unwinding, the strips of cloth trailed onto the ground. The fresh air on her bare torso made Sakura sigh. The young lady folded her clothing, and pushed it down into one of the storage baskets. She put her bath-set into a wooden container the bathhouse provided.

The kunoichi stepped carefully into the steaming room. Sakura pulled up a seat in front of one of the showerheads, and right next to a humming Potamos. The girl was already lathering unscented shampoo in her purple hair.

"Potamos, wouldn't soaps hurt or poison your kind?" Sakura asked. She realized that this was the first time she had seen the water-demon apply such cehimcals. Yes, Potamos regularly brought her own bath-sets into public bathhouses, but Sakura had thought the bottles to be mere props. It turned out that it really _was_ just shampoo, conditioner and wash.

"Just because I have control of water, doesn't mean I can go without cleaning once in a while," the petite girl answered. "If there's too much crud piling up on my body, my movements slow down. Taking a dip in a lake helps. But a hot bath is so much better. Something to do with energy and pores and all that." She picked up one bottle, and showed it to Sakura. "For some reason, though, I can only take hypoallergenic stuff."

"Hmm..." Sakura massaged shampoo in her own hair. "I wonder how Minoru-san is doing on the other side. I'm still surprised of this whole arrangement..."

"It's that other guy in the contract, right?" Potamos chimed. "Mino-chan, Salvia-sama, and that man." She turned to Sakura. "What's that man like, anyway?"

Sakura sighed. "He's... I don't know." Their conversation stopped there.

Sakura rinsed out the shampoo, and applied conditioner to her hair. She carefully picked at the troublesome knots with a comb. Potamos, already done with the washing part, slipped herself into the furo.

Sakura washed and pampered her body slowly. Not even dressing as a man could make her forget the luxury of a full bath. If anything, it made her enjoy it more, especially with feminine things like conditioner and body wash. Even though Sakura liked the group security and warmth that came with disguising herself as a rounin, she sort of missed being noticed as a woman. Sakura was pretty, not beautiful — but it was a guilty pleasure for her, knowing that there were some men whose minds she could twist into helpless ooze, all because they lusted after her body.

The medic-nin rinsed the soap off her skin, and plunged herself into the stone bathtub. She nearly yelped at the high temperature. Within ten seconds, the pain went away. The kunoichi folded her arms over the edge of the furo, and rested her head over her crossed hands. She sighed in the heat.

"Feeling better?" Potamos asked.

"Mm hmm." Sakura cranked her neck a bit. She could feel the steam banishing the winter chill from her limbs. It was as if the water had the power to wash away everything, making her sweat out the last feelings of confusion within her.

Potamos cocked her head to the side. "Sacchan?"

Sakura did not bat an eye. "Hm?"

"You're... not feeling guilty about this whole thing, are you?" The water-demon looked worried. "It's not too late to go back..."

"I'm fine..." Sakura's green eyes opened.

A pair of yellow eyes narrowed dangerously before her. Without notice, Potamos had silently swum up to her. Her cat-like pupils only emphasized her expression of a grumpy tiger.

"Okay, okay!" Sakura said hastily. "Maybe I do feel a little homesick." Sakura dipped herself further in the pool, letting the water reheat her shoulders. "But if it's human safety versus staying in my home village... obviously I'll take the former." She shrugged. " 'sides, it's not like I'll be missed. Much."

Potamos circle-swam around the human, and touched her shoulders. "You have knots in your back, Sacchan." She powerfully fingered the overwrought muscles, clearly enjoying Sakura's mixed moans of pleasure and pain. "You've gotta stretch more often..."

Voices came through the walls from the front desk. It was probably a new customer. Potamos patted Sakura's back, and then moved away.

Another woman stepped into the bathing area. She had dark-brown hair, brown eyes, and seemed to be in her mid-thirties. Sakura felt the air for any unusual vibes from this woman. 'She's definitely human,' she confirmed. Sakura closed her eyes, and didn't mind her.

Five or so minutes later, the stranger rinsed the suds off her body, and dipped into the pool.

"You know, you look a lot like that ninja from the leaf, Haruno Sakura," the woman mentioned.

Sakura stiffened at the comment, and then relaxed. "Really?" She gave a sheepish smile. "...I thought she was a lot prettier."

The brown-haired woman raised an eyebrow, but then smiled. "I notice that you practice iaidô."

Sakura tried her best to hide her nervousness. "What makes you think that?" She had been _sure_ that she stuffed her uniform tightly in the basket. Did this woman search her belongings?

"Your hand has the Mark," the lady answered.

Sakura's left hand opened slightly, and tightened. "Oh... I see." Sakura noticed that Potamos was listening in on the conversation, her face a little nervous. "You practice iaidô, too?" Sakura asked the knowledgeable stranger, keeping the atmosphere light.

"I'm an instructor," the woman answered. "I also teach a bit of kendô, although my husband is a better teacher with that. Do you go to tournaments?"

Sakura shook her head. "I can't. I'm not allowed by my—" The kunoichi had just about said 'guardian', or maybe even 'village', but she halted herself. "Um... my parents don't think it proper if I were to enter public fighting contests." She lied through her teeth, of course, but it was a believable reason.

The woman clucked her tongue. "They ought to know that even the women of samurai-class enter them with honor and style!" She laughed to herself. "My father was horrified when I showed up for tournaments, at first. But a year later, he was as proud as a peacock! Especially when I could instantly cut down any persistent suitors within a two-meter radius." She cackled, almost manically. "I was a tomboy, you see."

Sakura and Potamos looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

The brunette's laughter fell to a sated sigh. She cleared her throat. "Well, perhaps I ought to explain myself. I was wondering if you knew about the Kiyomizu tournament."

Sakura had never heard of it.

"Kiyomizu..." Potamos raked her brain at the words. "Clear... Water?"

"That's the meaning of the name, yes." The brown-haired woman smiled at Potamos' giddy face of achievement, then turned back to Sakura. "We're in desperate need of more participants — I would love to see you come."

Sakura lowered her eyes. "I don't know..." As much as she wished to attend, showing herself in public was one of the last things she was allowed to do. That Chuunin Exams ruckus had been bad enough; Konoha was probably on her tails by now.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," the woman soothed, "but could you at least mention it to the school you train at? It'll be held in the spring, in Rice country."

Sakura felt bit little disappointed. Their group was not planning to enter the Rice country until well into the summer.

"There's also archery," continued the woman, "and a two-player duel with ninja as the seconds."

Potamos livened up. "Ninja as seconds?" She squealed, and floated up to the brunette stranger. "How's it done?"

"Um, I'll see if I can recommend other people to the contest," said Sakura quickly. 'Damn it, Potamos, don't show yourself as a ninja — that's a paradox on its own!'

"They're closing in fifteen minutes," Sasuke whispered.

Naruto looked at his paper, then at the scroll, and back to the paper. He wrong down the kanji for the hand-seals, and drew several arrows. "How far are you in the assignment, Sasuke?"

"Two-thirds," Sasuke answered. "You?"

"Just over half." Naruto glanced at the upper corners of the room. "We only need an hour more."

Sasuke was already too tired to scold Naruto that that estimate was grossly wrong. The lights of the room began flickering, a reminder for people to start packing up their things.

Naruto leaned over the table, and whispered to Sasuke. "Maybe we can stay here longer."

Sasuke blinked. Realization came to him slowly. But it just did not seem possible: Naruto wanted to stay longer, in a _library_? "Why?" Sasuke asked.

"We have no other place to finish," Naruto reasoned. "As you said, my apartment is a dump. And both of us need that scroll." He then paused. "Well, we could use your place..."

Sasuke glared. "No." He would give up his ambitions for revenge before letting Naruto into his living quarters.

"Okay." Naruto folded his hands through several In. "Start hiding, and cover the cameras."

Sasuke groaned. His eyes blinked open. He sat straight up in his chair.

Naruto lay on the opposite side of the writing table, his head on a pillow of books. A drip of spittle fell from the corner of his mouth, and onto a wad of papers — more specifically, Sasuke's homework.

The Uchiha shoved Naruto's head to the side. A groan came out of the blond shinobi, followed by a yelp when he fell on the floor.

Sasuke only looked at his papers. He sighed in relief. His own handwriting, every problem done. It wasn't a dream.

The clock chimed. Naruto looked up groggily. "What's going on...?"

The two shinobi glanced at the clock. It was six o'clock.

Their curses were simultaneous.

The ANBU-trainer glared at the two teenagers. "Well, I certainly see that you are Kakashi's students." He lifted up his wrist, and read his watch. "Ten minutes late. If you pull something like this in a real mission, not only would you be dead — so would your teammates, and possibly an entire village."

"We're sorry," Naruto repeated for the fourth time. Sasuke remained stoic as always.

The captain looked at the two wads of paper on the ground in disgust. He picked them up. One looked like its corner had been dipped in some strange liquid. His eyes then trailed over the paper. His eyes seemed to harden with every sheet he looked at.

The captain had not dismissed them yet. It was agonizing for Naruto and Sasuke as they watched.

The ANBU-trainer breathed. He tossed down the papers. "These are unacceptable."

The two ninja were jolted. "WHAT?" burst out Naruto. "There's no way in hell that you could have corrected forty pages front-to-back that fast! Was every single answer wrong?"

The captain's eyes were scrutinizing. "I did not look at every sheet, but I know foul play when I see it. You two are dismissed." He turned around. "To be precise, you are officially banned from this training-session."

Sasuke's grip over his crossed arms tightened.

The ANBU-trainer turned his heels in the snow, and began to walk away. "Get out."

"That's... You can't be serious!" Naruto shouted, oblivious to the deadly aura Sasuke was giving off. "We did what you _assigned _us to do!"

The older shinobi glanced back. "Your investigating was fine work in this assignment," he complimented. "But a bit _too_ fine. Cheaters like you are not worth the dirt you step on." He strode away.

Naruto was speechless. This... this man was crazy! The captain just tells them that they're cheaters (when it was clearly _their_ handwriting on the pages), throws away the packets, and kicks the two of them out of class?

Naruto was just about to retort something, when a shadow passed his side. 'Sasuke?'

The captain stilled. He moved to evade the hit, but he was so bewildered at first that his reaction was not on top as it usually was. Plus, the attacker was in a violent rage.

The ANBU-trainer received a face-full of a rising dragon kick, by none other than Uchiha Sasuke.

The older shinobi staggered back, and steadied himself on a tree.

"Sasuke!" Naruto started after his rival. "Stop —urgh!" The blond felt something slam into him. When Naruto opened his eyes, he realized that a supervisor had pinned him on a tree. Evidently, the jounin thought that Naruto was either going to join the fight, or try to get in the way of a mentally unstable Uchiha.

The captain twisted around, and raised his arm. His hand grasped the air — a split-second later, he threw Sasuke onto the ground. The chuunin's back hit the frozen ground in a painful crash. A red-eyed Sasuke tried to get up, but the captain and a jounin held him down on the snowy floor of the forest.

"Don't move."

At the cold touch of the jounin's kunai on his neck, Sasuke finally realized what he was doing. He had just attacked a member of the ANBU. The Sharingan eyes faded into black once more.

The trainer brushed his arms, as if nothing significant had happened. "Assault — or at least an attempted assault," he said in a sadistic voice. "You have guts, Uchiha."

Sasuke's closed his eyes in frustration and anger. Towards the captain or himself, he didn't know.

All that was clear was how much trouble he was in.

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	27. Trapped

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

I guess I can put in a little fluff, since some people are getting a little scared by the dark tones showing up. But I warn you now, it gets darker. It might be a little weird because I'm learning _slowly_ how to write about Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke in this new setting. It's not just about being Hokage, watching from a distance, or getting revenge anymore... And it's hard to write!

And please don't get mad at me if Sakura doesn't show up for a while. She already had some limelight (lots of it), and the three main fighters have to get some attention in order for the story to move forward. (Yes, you could say that the tournament was all just a bunch of fluff. But it was ACTION-fluff.) Sakura will _eventually _show up later. And there will be hell — she's alive, for crying out loud.

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 27: Trapped

* * *

"Cool your head in here until I get back!"

Sasuke was roughly shoved into the cell by the ANBU-captain. The bars slid to a rumbling close. The lock clicked in its place.

The raven-haired ninja steadied himself on the metal post of the bunk. He noticed frozen flecks of earth on his shoulders, a result of getting pinned onto the winter ground. His fingers quickly brushed them off.

Sasuke sat down on the wooden board, which theoretically was used for sleeping. He judged certain types of dirt to be more comfortable. The chuunin observed his surroundings. So this was the temporary penitentiary jail, kept hidden in the way back of the Hokage Monument. It was reserved for juvenile delinquents, and lesser offences like stealing. In some ways, the avenger was lucky that he came here instead of a real jail. And yet...

'This sucks,' Sasuke thought.

He noticed a dull throb in his head. It was probably due to sleep deprivation. The ninja lay down on his back on the wood, and closed his eyes. He began to tune out his senses, one by one.

Through the cement wall, Sasuke heard distinct voices.

"You poisoned that food! You're trying to kill me, I just know it!"

"Dear, I did not poison anything." Pause. "See? I took a bite myself. Now be a good boy and eat it."

"Oooh, you think you're so clever, aren't you? Well, _you can't fool me_!"

The Uchiha clapped his hands to his ears. So his suspicions were correct that the insane asylum was next door. Judging from the voice pitches and subject of the conversation, it had been a nurse trying to convince a paranoid to eat his breakfast. Sasuke wondered if that place had any recommended treatments for chronic lonesomeness, coupled with minor depression. And maybe pigheadedness (for the ANBU-trainer).

But still, how in the world did this happen? One moment, the captain was throwing down his papers into dirt — and the next moment, Sasuke found himself struck down on the same dirt. In between was a red, blurred rush, lasting no more than a second. The only thing Sasuke remembered clearly was that he had never felt a better kick in his life.

Sasuke could take insults. He learned how to grow deaf to them. Hate from rival ninja only proved that he was considered a threat in terms of strength, a good sign if he wanted to fulfill his ambition. And yet...

(( "Don't think that acting all tragic because you lost your clan gets you favor in the ANBU. If anything, it makes you annoying and vulgar." ))

Sasuke loathed the captain for that comment. It was not like Sasuke _tried_ to fish for sympathy: if anything, he spurned it. If by some chance he had a reputation as a stone god, it was only because he was not much of a talker.

And yet, maybe there was an ounce of truth to what the ANBU-trainer had said.

(( "Of course I enjoyed it, because I'm a lonely, selfish child who takes any piece of genuine affection she can scrap UP!" ))

A hand smacked Sasuke's forehead. Why in the world did he think of that argument with Sakura all of a sudden? 'Maybe it's because you never realized how miserable she was until she spelled it out for you.'

Sasuke mentally punted the foreign voice into oblivion. That was an insult to his observation skills, that he hadn't been able to tell Sakura was suicidal just because of loneliness. _He_ was lonely, more than ever now...

Somehow, the overworked and frustrated ninja fell asleep.

* * *

(( (Two weeks prior)

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto blinked, and looked up. Hinata waved, sitting on top of a five-meter-high concrete wall. "Hina-chan!" Naruto exclaimed. "That's dangerous!"

Hinata only giggled in response. "I'm a ninja, too." The girl patted the area next to her, silently inviting him up.

Naruto swallowed. He loosened his arms, and then sprinted towards the wall. He climbed the surface using his chakra-powered hands and feet. The shinobi flipped himself onto the top, taking care not to knock his girlfriend off the edge.

"Are you stable?" Hinata asked.

"Wait." Naruto adjusted his seating by scooting next to Hinata. "Now I am."

"Good." The blue-haired girl pecked Naruto on the cheek. A sort of goofy grin passed his face at the touch, before Naruto kissed her back, this time over her mouth. "Mmph— How did your morning training go?" Hinata asked.

Naruto cranked his head a little. "The new teacher gives us crazy sets. And," — the blond yanked out the packet from his bag — "a _paper_ assignment. Can you believe it?"

Just when Hinata finished reading the front page, he tucked the whole packet away. "Shouldn't you get started on that?" Hinata asked worriedly. "Perhaps now? I've never tried, but I heard from my father—"

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan," Naruto carelessly droned. "I have two weeks! I'll work on it at night."

Hinata made a slight frown. "But you're _tired_ then."

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "And how would you know that?" An impish twinkle came in his blue eyes. "You said that you've watched me for a long time... But don't you think observing me _at night_ is a little naughty for you?"

Hinata's cheeks turned a considerable pink. "Na, Naruto-kun!" she stuttered, the mortification in her voice. "I... I've never—"

"I know, Hina-chan," Naruto said gently. "You're a lady." He smiled at her relieved face. "It's just that I like flirting with you."

The blue-haired girl coughed to hide her embarrassment. She pulled out a small scroll from the inner pocket of her jacket. "I got a new message." She showed Naruto the first two verses. "Do you think I need to work with Nunagawa-sama and Hafusono-sama more?"

Naruto's blue eyes read over the first parts of the message. His eyes stopped over the words -two demons-, and opened wide. He glanced away from the paper, as if it had something inappropriate written on it. "Um... ah ha, maybe." There was an uneasy frown on his lips.

Hinata looked confused — but only for a moment. "Oh! You don't have to worry about my training," she said, rolling up the scroll. "Warashi-chan helps me with that." The girl rested her head on Naruto's shoulder. "I'm just updating you on the progress."

"Yeah." Naruto put a comfortable arm around Hinata's shoulder. That was true; he had insisted that Hinata would constantly tell him whenever something new happened to her, whether or not a youkai was involved. A chilly wind began to pick up, making the Hyuuga heiress huddle next to him. "As much as I enjoy this position," Naruto suddenly mentioned, "why made you decide to sit in a high place like this one? It's cold."

Hinata sighed within his the neck of his jacket. "Because," she murmured, "You'd not be able to get away easily once you arrived." Her nose brushed his collarbone, making him breathe in the winter air a little more quickly than usual.

The shiver in Naruto was certainly not from the wind. He had no idea whether to praise her or fear her. Despite Hinata's innocent face and elegant manners, her impression on Naruto began to look more... alluring, so to speak. How could she so easily put him in a life-threatening position like this one?

"Oi!" a cranky voice shouted from down below.

Hinata automatically loosened from her boyfriend. But Naruto, worried for her safety, caught her and pulled her closer. "Yes?" Naruto called down, rather irritated.

An old woman shook her fist at the two. "Stop fooling around up there, you moral-devoid youngin's!" her voice wobbled. A comb decked with diamonds clung her silver-white hair together. "It's shameful for the image of the town!"

Hinata gulped as the lady inched off. Well, they had not _meant_ to cuddle while someone else was around...

Hinata's thoughts skidded to a stop. Wasn't that elderly lady the former sex symbol of the Hidden Leaf Village, not to mention the mother of seven children from three different men and now grandmother of twenty grandchildren? One could say that she was almost the female version of Jiraiya. So what was all that yelling all about? That she would scold a couple making out was very uncharacteristic of her, not to mention hypocritical.

"Hag," Naruto muttered under his breath.

Hinata patted Naruto hand. "She's usually more jovial, really." She watched at the hobbling form of the lady. 'Maybe she's beginning to suffer from rheumatism, poor thing...' ))

* * *

Hinata yawned in the mid-morning air. She covered her open mouth with her hand, keeping her tonsils out of sight. Winter mornings were so much more difficult to wake up in.

Still, what was with that scene of two weeks ago? Her mind kept on reviewing it, over and over, as if a movie-projector spun in her brain. Maybe it was because it had been her first time at flirting with her precious Naruto-kun... But that probably wasn't it, nagged something.

"Onee-sama!" Hanabi waved from the end of the street, waiting for her older sister to catch up.

Hinata hurried down the street. "I'm coming!"

She trotted down to a slow pace as she caught up with Hanabi. Wait a minute, this wasn't where the grocery shops were...

Hanabi walked past the blacksmith, and waved Hinata towards the small jewelry shop. "Come on!"

"Hanabi, we're supposed to get canned foods..." Hinata's voice trailed off as the girl skipped into the store. Sighing, the Priestess followed. By the time she found her little sister, Hanabi was already looking around, her eyes as bright as the jewels themselves.

Hinata could not help but smile. Hanabi probably just wanted to do a little eye-shopping, for curiosity's sake. Due to their positions in the Main-branch of the Hyuuga, looking at merchandise without an elder hovering behind their backs was something of a rare event.

Hinata's reverie of watching her younger sister coo over pretty things broke apart with one phrase: "Onee-sama, pick something you like."

The Priestess blinked. "What?"

Hanabi pouted, almost in an angry way. "Pick something you like!" she repeated. "It's your birthday today, right?"

If Hanabi's first phrase took Hinata aback, the second one paralyzed her. "Um..."

In the Hyuuga mansion, it was a sort of tradition to disregard birthdays. There had been exceedingly vibrant celebrations in the past that drained their assets, and many incidents of unwanted presents (a mountain of photograph frames lay hidden in their attic). It was simply impractical for the Hyuuga to observe every single birthday of every clansman. Thus, only specific birthdays were recognized for ceremonial occasions. The need to let loose and celebrate was left to the public festivities of Konoha. If one family of the Hyuuga wanted to celebrate privately, that was fine — but it was on their own funds, not on the clan's.

"...You forgot?" Hanabi asked.

Hinata gave a weak smile. "I... didn't realize it was Saturday already."

Hanabi's nose gave a light snort. "Come on, at least look around. Some items are on sale."

"But you only have a small allowance!" Hinata insisted. It didn't make any difference to her whether Hanabi gave her a present; she loved her sister all the same. Besides, the words 'on sale' only meant that the store had purchased it for that price, and now wanted to get rid of it. "I have my own income from missions. You don't have to—"

"But I _want_ to," Hanabi said. Something of a pout was still in her lips.

Hinata felt defeated. "Well, maybe we can buy each other something..."

"Hey, look!" The eleven-year-old pointed to one display box. Hinata's eyes followed her sister's arm. In the display was a small case of four hairpins. Each had a tiny, crystal sphere on its hoop.

"Are you interested in those?"

The Hyuuga sisters looked up. The owner of the shop walked up to them. She was tall for a woman, and her black, wavy hair was tied back cleanly. The professional white suit she wore contrasted well with her unusually tanned skin.

"Yuuhi-san!" Hinata bowed her head quickly. "Good morning." She remembered the saleslady to be a cousin of Yuuhi Kurenai, her own jounin-instructor.

"Hatsue is just fine," the manager answered smoothly. Although she was not a kunoichi herself, Yuuhi Hatsue was an independent woman, running her own jewelry shop in Konoha. She sold anything from trinkets to diamonds. "I hope my cousin isn't working you too harshly," Hatsue chided.

Hinata shook her head. "No — Kurenai-sensei is very kind."

Hatsue's eyes gave an omniscient stare on the hairpins, as if she were an astronomer observing the stars. "Ah, excellent choice," the woman complimented. "The crystals match your unique eyes."

Hinata swallowed. She felt a little guilty as she looked at the hairpins. They were perfect. They even matched her necklace (although nobody was supposed to know about that). However, the set was priced at four-hundred ryou. Even if Hinata did come from a prestigious clan, she felt hesitant spending that much on nothing more than hair decorations.

"Could I examine the jewels, please?" Hinata asked. She at least wanted to look at them closely, for art's sake.

"Certainly." The shop-owner unhooked the box from the display case, and set it before Hinata.

Hinata carefully waved her hand over the pins without actually touching them. She pleasantly discovered that, although the tiny jewels let off a white, iridescent shine in direct light, they blended into their surroundings under shadow. A common difficulty that shinobi had with wearing jewelry (especially those made of gold and silver) was that they would reflect in a dark room if the tiniest light source existed, thus giving a sign of an intruder to the enemy. These jeweled hairpins, however, did not have that problem: one could almost say that they were made for kunoichi.

Hanabi wasn't quite sure what her older sister saw in the items by waving her hand over it. But she _did _notice the awe, mingled with want and guilt, in Hinata's lavender eyes. Her now-seventeen-year-old sister was trapped!

"Onee-sama," Hanabi said, "We can pay for the set together, and then each of us takes two." Hanabi tried out smiling — and for the first time in a long while, it felt nice. Not forced at all.

Hinata looked hesitantly at the price. Well, she didn't mind so much, now that Hanabi offered a joint-investment rather than a gift. 'Well, Hanabi deserves some jewelry, too,' Hinata thought. 'She could wear them if she ever needs to sneak into a high-class party...'

"All right." Hinata fumbled with her purse. Hanabi was already forking out the bills from her own wallet, and patted them down onto the counter.

After taking the money, the saleslady pushed forward the box of hairpins with the receipt. "Would you like to try them on now?" she asked, gesturing to a mirror.

"Sure, why not?" Hanabi automatically took one out. She looked mesmerized at the item as she held it. Then, the girl then pointed the hairpin at her older sister's — eye.

Hatsue almost gasped.

Hinata swiped the accessory away. She was a little wary that her sister's unleashed girliness might inadvertently bring about physical harm. "I can do it on my own, Hanabi," she said. "Work on yourself."

The younger one nodded, before reaching for her own two hairpins from the box.

Hinata swallowed, looking at her reflection in the small mirror. She slid one hairpin on each side of her head, just above the ears. It was a little old-fashioned, using them to simply hold loose strands, but it suited her short, dark-blue hair just fine.

Hinata looked over: her little sister took a more asymmetrical approach, the two hairpins resting on the right side of her forehead. For a split-second, a dazed look overcame Hanabi.

"Hanabi, that looks wonderful on you!" Hinata praised, clapping her hands together. "Just like an adult!"

The small girl looked up, and blushed. "Uh... you, too," she returned. She rubbed her eyes, as if a piece of a dust had floated in.

* * *

Sasuke grunted out of his nap.

Down the hall and through the bars, two voices were arguing. Well, it was more like one lectured — the ANBU-trainer — while the other one added constructive comments like 'oh', or 'uh-huh', and the occasional 'mm'. Sasuke recognized the second voice to be that of Kakashi.

"Now, here's my question," Kakashi said, bringing out his first real sentence of the conversation. "Isn't a penitentiary going a _scooch_ too far?"

Sasuke's eyes rolled. It somehow was no surprise that Kakashi possessed such a word in his vocabulary.

"He violated a code of common decency," the ANBU-trainer said in a stringent tone. "I told you, he performed a rising dragon kick on me openly during class—"

"Did he really?" Kakashi asked, a strange touch of eagerness and nostalgia in his voice. "He must have been going... as fast as I was at his age..."

"HATAKE!" the captain exclaimed, "_put away that cursed book this instant!"_ Sasuke heard a pause on Kakashi's side. From the slow intakes of air, it was obvious that the captain was attempting to regain his patience. "Look at the situation," the captain continued, his voice a great deal calmer. "You have been in the ANBU for eight years, yes. But you know well as I do that Sasuke is mentally not ready for it. His bloodline-eyes may automatically give him a whole arsenal at his fingertips, but right now he can't even take a jilt without snapping!"

'I didn't learn _everything_ by the Sharingan,' Sasuke grumbled to himself. He crossed his arms together, trying to keep warm in the poorly insulated cell.

"He is off my hands," the captain said. "Train him if you want, Hatake. But if he goes berserk, like the rest of the Uchiha did — you will be held responsible." The lock on Sasuke's cell clicked loose. The teenager curled back up on the wooden board, trying to appear asleep. The footsteps grew.

"Sasuke."

The teenager pulled himself up. He didn't even feel like glowering at Kakashi — he just stared at the cold floor. The ANBU-trainer had already left the building.

"How did the captain manage to pin you down?" Kakashi asked. "He says you had the Sharingan activated."

"My body couldn't keep up," Sasuke droned. "He was faster." It was a common thing for him to repeat the weaknesses of the bloodline limit to Kakashi, almost like a sutra for humility.

Kakashi held his tongue. The truth was, he suspected something much more grave of why Sasuke was taken down so quickly. It was the same reason why the teenager attacked the ANBU-captain in the first place: he wasn't thinking clearly, so his speed was compromised. Sasuke was growing touchy again about his skills as a ninja.

"You can still technically take the ANBU examinations, even without participating in the official training class," Kakashi said, giving a positive note. "In fact, I think both you and Naruto can each work on an independent basis for those, while doing normal missions as chuunin. You'd be at a disadvantage compared to the people taking the class... and organization of time is crucial. But how does that sound?"

Sasuke got up from the wooden bench. "It beats the morning training."

Kakashi smiled under his mask. He knew that Sasuke did morning training since he was ten — his student just did not want to admit that he _wanted_ to drop out of a prestigious class. The jounin guided Sasuke out of the penitentiary, and out into the crisp late morning. The air still nipped of winter. "Let's go get some hot ramen from the Ichiraku," Kakashi suggested. "Naruto's waiting for us there now."

Sasuke followed, compliant to the invitation. "I'm not paying for yours," he reminded.

After several blocks, Kakashi lightly pounded one fist into his other hand, remembering something. "I have just one more question," he said. "What were your sources when researching for that written assignment?"

Sasuke's answer was direct and honest. "The scrolls from Sakura's will."

Pause.

Kakashi hardly batted an eye. "And where are they now?"

"Naruto has the first volume, and I the second."

Kakashi thought calmly for a moment. "I'll want to look at those later," the jounin said. He turned to the side, and almost laughed at Sasuke's distrustful expression: it was like that of a child hesitating to share his toys with others. "Don't worry," he said with assurance. "I'll give it back within twenty-four hours. I just want to check for my own research."

* * *

Two days passed over Konoha. At Naruto's apartment, the blond ninja shuffled around his belongings, sorting out the needed from the unneeded. It was the time when everybody cleaned their houses from top to bottom for the coming new year.

Umino Iruka tossed a clipboard onto the couch. "Naruto, out of the 144 requirements of having a safe and clean living space, your apartment violates exactly half of them!" he said. "The Hokage is stepping up public sanitation in this town, so saying that you can't carry garbage out is no excuse anymore."

"Yes, yes," his former student droned. Iruka picked up a hammer, and raised it above his shoulder. "Hey! Don't throw that at me!" Naruto exclaimed.

The hammer dropped — to a nail in a board. "Idiot," Iruka sighed. He began to construct the new bookshelves for Naruto's accumulated belongings. "You really think I'm going to attack you?"

"A ninja has to be on guard at all times!" Naruto said, pointing a finger at his former teacher.

'I've been here all day, using my vacation to help you clean up this mess,' Iruka thought helplessly. 'And this is how you thank me?' He had only brought the clipboard to make a point to Naruto — but he should have remembered that the hyperactive blond didn't care much for written regulations.

Iruka kept hammering the would-be bookshelf, hoping to finish it before evening when Naruto's neighbors would complain about the noise. Even though Naruto was already his equal in shinobi-rank (and his superior in combat), Iruka still cared for the boy like a father to a son. Hence, his trouble to boot the teenager into cleaning his own apartment. Sasuke had relayed to the Hokage of how abhorrent the place was, and Tsunade asked Iruka to help the blond shinobi out. Of course, the chuunin couldn't refuse.

"Invest fifteen to twenty minutes per day tidying up some place of your living quarters," Iruka advised, twisting a slight-bent board into the right position for hammering. "If you ever marry, don't leave all the household chores to your wife."

In Naruto's train of thoughts, Hinata's face suddenly popped out. _Wife._ A scarlet crossed his cheeks. Mind you, it was still too early to seriously consider it. But contemplating the idea was food for thought... And very delicious, one might add.

"She'd feel like a maid, except without a paycheck," Iruka continued to lecture. "Anyway..."

Naruto now imagined Hinata in a French-maid outfit. He thought he was going to have a nosebleed; the cuteness was overwhelming. He shook his head.

"How is Hinata doing?" Iruka asked. He paused for a moment. He gave Naruto an inquiring stare, almost harsh. "You do remember what I told you about _certain_ actions..."

Naruto groaned. "Yes. I know. Yeesh, you repeat sex-ed to me yearly."

"Just checking." Iruka's hammer tapped the nail a few micrometers more into the wood. He continued to the next board. After nailing that one in place as well, he looked up. "Naruto, I'm proud of you."

Naruto tossed a molding piece of bread into a trashbag. "For what?" he asked.

"It must have taken you a lot of courage to ask out a sweet and high-class damsel like Hinata." Iruka studied the embarrassed happiness on Naruto's face. "That, or you were really stupid," Iruka tagged at the end.

Naruto scowled. "Hey! Are you insulting Hinata-chan or me?"

"Definitely not Hinata. Maybe you." Iruka ran his fingers over another wooden board. The sanded surface went on top, he remembered. "By going out with her, you might be taking on a harder challenge than getting the village to accept you as the vessel of... you know." Iruka coughed. "If you do anything out of place with Hinata, the wrath of the Hyuuga clan will not only be directed towards you."

Naruto picked up an old shinobi-manual, studying its contents. "Of course. Hinata-chan."

Iruka nodded. "Exactly. Imagine the worst-case scenario," he continued to his former student. "Suppose... you get Hinata pregnant before marriage."

The book fell from Naruto's hand and onto the floor with a slapping bang. Naruto was shocked at the bluntness of his normally good-natured teacher. "Iruka-sensei, you _know_ I wouldn't do that to Hina-chan!" the blond exclaimed.

"Just imagine it," Iruka ordered.

"No!" Naruto's face took on the color of a ripe peach. "Stop talking to me about this; it's embarrassing!"

"No matter what you say, it remains a possibility," the older chuunin said stoically. "For Hinata's sake, please think about what would happen if you two fell into that situation, bad as it sounds." Iruka waved a hand. "The Hokage, and everybody in the village who cares for and governs it, must think this way. You have to consider the well-being of every person."

Naruto realized that he was not going to get out of this conversation without some sincere answers. Yelling back, as far to his knowledge, never deterred Iruka from the main topic of discussion. The man was a _serious_ teacher.

The blond shinobi swallowed. "Okay. IF that were to happen," — his face grew double red — "Hina-chan's family would probably remove her from her heiress position, and place her in a Branch house." The thought made his innards boil. 'They've been looking for any excuse to do that, all because she's not as physically powerful as Neji or Hanabi...'

"Not only that," Iruka said. "If she were to get with child while unmarried, her relatives would lock her up for the duration of her pregnancy, making sure that no public eye gazes upon her. A forced wedding might happen... but it's getting harder to do these days, especially when clans like the Hyuuga are so selective of who enters the family." Iruka left out the jab that, in that situation, Hyuuga Hiashi would probably murder Naruto before accepting him as a son-in-law. "Abortion would be out of the question, of course, for they see Hyuuga blood having potential no matter how 'diluted', as they state it."

The teacher paused. He allowed Naruto to slowly adjust his thinking. The boy had to understand the politics of the whole thing, to see what a clan with a valuable bloodline-limit would do.

"At birth, the baby would be taken away from Hinata, and put into care of a Branch family," Iruka continued. "Hinata would already have been turned into a Branch-member herself by then, yet she would take no part in raising the child, except as a 'distant' relative. She would watch it brought up by different parents, forbidden to tell the child who she really is, on pain of death."

Naruto distinctly remembered the 'caged bird' seal Neji showed him. With just one curl of a hand by a member of the Main house, the mark would literally fry the brain cells of a 'lesser' relative.

Iruka paused in thought, and looked at Naruto. "And, of course, they'd make sure _you_ never speak to either Hinata or the child."

Naruto sat, dazed. He finally realized that Iruka had finished speaking.

"You really think," Naruto breathed, "that they'd make Hinata go through _all that_?"

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "I'm not allowed to show you town records... but I've witnessed a few cases of that nature, both in the Hyuuga clan and other clans."

Naruto leaned his head on the wall for support. The Hyuuga clan had done it _before_?

His first resolve was to never let Hinata go through that kind of situation. But his second musing was on how many illegitimate children of the powerful clans could have been forced away from their parents, and afterwards taught to avoid them. And all because the village's shinobi-secrets had to be protected...

Iruka watched his former student mentally writhe in anguish. Although he didn't like exposing the cruel world to his students, especially a cheerful one like Naruto, Iruka was satisfied to know that Naruto was adult enough to think seriously about this.

"Oh geez," Naruto breathed, "there has got to be a better way..."

Iruka looked scandalized for a moment. "You mean you _want _to get your girlfriend pregnant?" he asked incredulously.

"NO!" Naruto answered. "I was thinking about the clan system!"

Iruka sighed in relief. "Oh, I see..."

Naruto calmed down. He went back to cleaning, this time with less talking on his part.

The silence was killing the both of them. Perhaps a little lighter conversation was in order, Iruka thought. "Oh yes, how was Hinata's birthday?" Iruka asked. "Did you do anything special together?"

The blond shinobi froze. His head slowly turned around.

Iruka sweated. "Please don't say you forgot." He had a knack for memorizing factoids about students, ex-students and alumni. He had only assumed that Naruto would know his own girlfriend's birthday. Then again, the couple had been together for only a short period of time. "December twenty-seventh?" Iruka articulated.

Naruto's voice shook up the apartment complex.

"She never _told_ me!"

* * *

Sasuke walked down the street, a blue scarf draped around his shoulders like a prince. He wore a black sweater with the chuunin vest over it. The thin layer of snow on the ground was crushed mercilessly under his feet.

"Hina-chan, I am sooo sorry about your birthday!"

Sasuke twitched. He wished that Naruto would just shut up already about Hinata's birthday. It was already New Year's Eve, for crying out loud.

"It's okay, Naruto-kun," Hinata repeated for the thirteenth time. As much as it impressed her of how seriously her boyfriend took her birthday, she also thought it a bit silly. "I hadn't told you then, of course you wouldn't know." She smiled gently. "Besides, I don't like most birthdays: they're so predictable."

'No kidding,' Sasuke commented to himself. He recalled the horror days of Ninja Academy, when blushing girls would give him useless things like cake or candy. He might have given them a second glance if they gave him something practical. Like a brand-new kunai, or medicine.

Naruto glanced at the spherical crystals in Hinata's hair. "But Hanabi remembered..."

"It was a surprise for me that Hanabi wanted to treat me. And just that fact made me happy." Hinata's voice and facial expression held perfect serenity, like that of a Zen master. "I like it when nice, little things come unexpected."

The Priestess blushed awkwardly under Naruto's gaze. He seemed to be in awe of her, as if she were a saint.

"...Okay," she guiltily admitted, "Perhaps I also like them because they matched with the Yasanagi no..."

"Let's go forward!" Naruto exclaimed to overwhelm her voice. Nobody was supposed to know about the necklace hidden beneath Hinata's collar.

Sasuke noticed that several people were glancing at the three of them. A few people were giggling, others whispering. Sasuke's dark eyes beamed out a mortal glare. It clearly sent out of the message: 'Leave.' The people who had been curiously watching slowly edged away.

Sasuke continued to survey the visitors around them, wondering if anybody noticed Hinata's slip. Most people had forgotten the names of legends and myths, or had weak knowledge of it. But one never knew when there was a fantasy-freak mingled in the crowd, obsessing over which spirit used what item in what story. If that kind of... _person_... got wind of what skills Hinata possessed, and put them together the strange happenings of the past few months, rumors would surround and entrap the 'princess' like a castle of thorns.

Oh, and Sasuke hated publicity. No matter how indirectly it tied to him. He was a serious ninja. He could not rule of the possibility that if Itachi got word of Sasuke's new bodyguard position, he would probably strike the next second...

Come to think of it, though, no youkai had shown up for a while. The last weird incident was with that scale-covered demon. Sasuke wanted to throw up at the memory; he had never felt so humiliated. The heartless avenger had buckled so easily. And all because Utsushi burned noxious weeds and fixed herself to look like his old teammate...

A strange voice cackled in his mind. _'Weak.'_

The night-sky grew darker. The three shinobi were taking the trip to the Buddhist temple for the New Year bell ringing. Sasuke had not wanted to go, but Naruto dragged him out of the house, saying that he needed to observe social occasions to become good in espionage.

Sasuke and Naruto wore practical clothing for the evening, along with their chuunin vests. They didn't dress as classy as the village elders in traditional wear, but they looked sharp enough to give the thickly-clothed merchants a run for their money.

Hinata, in contrast, was dressed up beautifully in a kimono. It was woven between a pale blue and a royal purple, and small flowers of yellow and blue decorated the hems. Encircling Hinata's mid-rift was a yellow obi, which in turn was stabilized by an orange obi-jime, a small silken cord. Her Hyuuga relatives had given the opinion that the last item mismatched with the rest of the kimono. Hinata answered that a kimono at a festival was supposed to look bright — and besides, orange was symbolic. (They had not understood what she meant, but Naruto sure did.) Overall, Hinata looked every bit the grown-up young lady.

Unfortunately, she did not have the balance for walking in geta-shoes quite down pat. On the first step of the stone stairway to the temple, Hinata tripped.

Naruto flung out an arm. "Hina-chan!"

Hinata felt two things. One was Naruto's arm around her waist.

The other was Uchiha Sasuke's finger on her forehead.

Naruto was just as bewildered as Hinata. Sasuke remained stiff and impassive. As soon as it was clear Hinata was in no danger of crushing her face against the stone stairway, the raven-haired ninja pushed her forehead back. Not a stinging flick, but still a push.

"Be careful," Sasuke said, before continuing to climb.

Naruto cradled Hinata's waist from behind. "You okay?" he asked.

Hinata nodded. After Naruto let go of her, she continued walking up the stairway. She felt Naruto's hand slip into hers. The Priestess smiled, and gently squeezed back.

And yet, Hinata couldn't help herself, putting a free hand to her forehead. The Uchiha's touch felt so — cold. It wasn't just the surface of his black gloves. It was as if something in Sasuke could kill any happiness upon contact...

Hinata shook her head. 'I'm probably just imagining things,' she told herself. 'It's so unlike Uchiha-san to help others that the shock must have stunned me...'

Once on the summit, the trio of chuunin took a slow tour around. Sasuke only gave passing glances to the stands, attended by the miko of the nearby Shinto shrine. They were selling ofuda, omamori, and other things he usually considered gimmicks.

Naruto caught Hinata simply standing at one point. She was looking at the fortune-telling booth from a distance. It was a simple omikuji — a cylindrical box was shaken, and out would come a stick, which was actually a piece of paper folded thirty times over. One unfolded it, and read one's personal fortune for the coming year.

"You want to try it, Hina-chan?" Naruto guessed. The blond personally didn't believe in that fortune-telling stuff. He also had some unpleasant memories involving them. But if it suited Hinata's fancy...

Hinata blushed, and looked down. "Not for myself..."

"But that's what it's for, isn't it?" Naruto asked. "Personal fortunes."

"I was only wondering..." Hinata fumbled with her words. "Do you think that maybe, the miko wrote prophecies in the straws?"

Naruto paused in thought. As crazy as that might have sounded, Hinata did have a point. She was Priestess of Souls. Could normal priestesses help her out as well?

But the first question was whether these attendants had insight into the future. Secondly, even if the miko did have some message from the beyond, would they bother to put such information in the New Year's omikuji? Most fortune-telling was for entertainment nowadays. If seers constantly gave bad news, customers would grow disheartened and stop paying them.

"This probably isn't going to work..." Naruto started. But Hinata was already chatting with the shrine-maidens, and drawing out her own straw. Naruto shrugged, and walked over.

Just when Naruto was about to sneak a peak at Hinata's fortune, she crushed the paper on her chest quickly.

"Is it... bad?" he asked.

"No, it's good," Hinata said. She leaned over to him, and whispered, "Normal fortune-telling." She stepped away from the table. Naruto began to follow.

"Wait!" The two halted, and turned around. A young miko fidgeted behind the omikuji boxes. "Um... would you like to take one, sir?" The attendant lifted up the cylindrical box, her arms slightly shaking.

Naruto blinked. He then realized what she was asking, and he pointed at himself. "...Me?"

The miko nodded, and gulped. "Since the donations are in advance at our shrine, anybody can take one. And my superior said this box is for people like you..."

Hinata fought an odd, unfamiliar simmer within her gut. That shrine attendant was blushing and fidgeting, exactly like Hinata's twelve-year-old self! Well, no surprise that Naruto was getting popular with the girls... he was funny, cheerful, strong, and handsome...

Naruto looked at Hinata, just as the paper dropped into his palm. For some reason, his girlfriend was looking extremely uncomfortable. "You feel okay?" he asked in concern.

To Naruto's confused surprise, Hinata hugged onto his arm, and gave a quiet "mm hm." Naruto then looked back at the young miko, who now appeared sad and disappointed. By some miracle, things clicked into place for the normally relationship-dense teenager. It was a good thing that he had overheard Shikamaru complaining of how troublesome girls were, especially when they began flirting with you _after_ they found out you had a girlfriend.

Naruto leaned his mouth next to Hinata's ear. "Don't worry, Hina-chan," he said. "I won't cheat on you."

Embarrassment overflowed Hinata, but it faded away as Naruto took her by the hand and walked towards the bare trees near the shrine. "Naruto-kun," Hinata said, "Didn't you read your fortune yet?"

"Oh, right," Naruto said, unfolding the piece of paper. He stared at its contents for a moment. He then crunched it back up. "I _knew_ that the second shrine-attendant was glaring..."

Hinata blinked. A _second_ shrine-attendant? She turned her head back to the stand, and saw that an older miko was overseeing the younger one — and it looked like she was scolding the girl, as if she did something wrong. Hinata heard bits and pieces of her speech.

"...Don't make eyes at him... Didn't I ever tell you to not be deceived by appearances? ... boy is a monster..."

Hinata turned her eyes back to Naruto. She snatched the paper out of his hand to see what it was.

"Wait, Hinata—"

Hinata froze at what she read. On the top of the paper was written -Daikyou- — 'Great Misfortune'. It continued, written in large, scrawy calligraphy, -Life as you know it will go downhill- In place of a period, a tiny grinning skull punctuated the sentence to an end.

Hinata trembled. What kind of sick joke was this?

Hinata briskly walked towards the omikuji-stand. She was ready to use her Byakugan to penetrate those boxes and personally fish out other notes that were pranks. She then realized that her Byakugan would have difficulty reading tight straws of papers — but she wanted to threaten the older head attendant with _something!_

"Wait, Hina-chan," Naruto said hastily, putting a hand on her shoulder, "it's not that big of a deal."

"I think it is!" Hinata retorted. She wanted to rip up the fortune with her bare hands. But what good was shredding the evidence?

"It's only a piece of paper," Naruto said. He had never seen his girlfriend so upset before — perhaps talking things out would straighten things out. "See, I got my first bad New Year's fortune when I was eight, when I came here with Iruka-sensei..."

"_Eight?_" Hinata nearly cried out. "Did it also have a death threat?"

"Well... maybe," Naruto admitted. "But it's okay," he said, reading the horrified look on Hinata's face. "You don't have to make such a big fuss all for me. I'm cool."

Hinata dropped her arms to her side. The indignation within her seemed to leak out, replaced by a confused sadness. Why wasn't Naruto defending himself? "But..." she whispered, "it's so mean..."

Naruto started to panic a little. Okay, he admitted that it kind of sounded bad. "Don't worry, Hina-chan! Iruka-sensei told me then that hard work and good thinking overcomes bad luck!" He gave a brilliant smile, and a thumbs up to Hinata. Just like five years ago at their first Chuunin Exams, when she offered to show him the answers.

(( "An incredible ninja like me doesn't need to cheat!" ))

Hinata pulled up a sniff. The kunoichi then did something totally unexpected: she took her own fortune-paper, stuck it with Naruto's, and began folding them together into one bundle. She walked up to the tree, and tied it a branch. Being a double-layer, it was fatter than the other fortune-papers that laced the branches. "There," the tear-brimmed Hinata mumbled. "Now we'll go through the same fortunes together, good or bad."

She walked off.

Naruto swallowed. Wow. Well, that was certainly a side of Hinata he hadn't seen before. Folding her fortune with his, and tying it together on the tree? Her act was unconventional... yet it was sweet and caring as Hinata herself.

The blond shinobi caught up to his girlfriend. "Hina-chan?"

Hinata turned, scrubbing her face. She was a little ashamed at her outburst — had it been a minute already? Naruto probably thought her some irrational, silly girl...

Naruto's face was warm. "That made me very happy."

And with the first midnight gong of the bell, he kissed her.

* * *

Sasuke sat on top of the fence, watching the temple from a distance.

"Go, year!" The monk called out the chant, pushing the swinging log against the enormous bell. "Come, year!"

The Uchiha closed his eyes. He remembered a year ago, and the year before that, when he accompanied Sakura to festivals like these. Well, it was more like she escorted _him_, because he wasn't allowed to walk alone at night without supervision. But he hadn't minded her presence.

(( "It's nice, isn't it?" Sakura asked, looking upwards. She tugged on the pink obi over her red kimono. "They dim the lights during the ringing so we can see the stars. Winter is the best time for stargazing, you know."

Sasuke said nothing. He only listened, and studied the night sky.

Sakura caught herself, and turned to the avenger. "Of course, you probably think it's dangerous because we can't see what's happening around us..." The kunoichi looked away, sad that she had again trapped herself in a monologue.

Sasuke looked at her, and shrugged. "There are other ways of sensing danger."

Sakura appeared surprised at his reaction. She then gave a mild smile. "That's true."))

The air rang as the bell was struck. 108 strikes in all, getting rid of the 108 sins from the previous year.

Sasuke sensed a different vibration. It was coming from his clothing. He removed one of his gloves, and jammed his hand in the front of his shirt. He raised the blue-and-silver omamori. No glowing. How strange; he surely had felt heat. He flipped it over in his hands. Sasuke then realized that there _was_ glowing. It just was very weak, and spread evenly through all the stitches. 'There's no definite point,' he realized.

One of two things could have been occurring. One was that the talisman was broken, and going haywire. The other possibility was that they were surrounded by many, many weak enemies.

The Uchiha launched himself off the fence. Sasuke could not find Naruto and Hinata. He swore under his breath as he made his way through the crowd.

"Hey!"

Sasuke looked, and saw that he had pushed against a small girl with pale eyes. He remembered her as Hinata's little sister, Hyuuga Hanabi.

"Have you seen your older sister?" Sasuke asked the little girl. His nerves grew as she just stared at him, and the talisman kept warming in his hand.

Hanabi scowled, pushing her hairpins back into place. "No," she finally said. "She's probably with her _boyfriend_."

Sasuke saw a patch of blond hair in the crowd. Naruto was there, with Hinata hanging on his arm. Sasuke made his way through, ignoring the snort of irritation that Hanabi gave off.

The tolling of the bells stopped. The lamps slowly turned back on, and the people began to celebrate or converse with each other. They gave little attention to Sasuke.

After bumping into at least a hundred people, Sasuke hissed. "Hey, Naruto!"

The blond turned around. "Sasuke! Happy New Year!"

Sasuke ignored the greeting, holding up his omamori. "What does yours say?"

Naruto paused. He took out his red omamori, and studied it. He realized that the gold stitches were all simultaneously glowing, just like the silver ones in Sasuke's blue omamori. It was as if the talisman were pointing in multiple directions. "Woaw..."

"Mine is the same way," Hinata whispered, holding her white-and-red talisman.

"Are they broken?" Naruto asked.

"How can three separate items get broken all at once?" Sasuke muttered under his breath. He turned to Hinata. "Unless, of course, that the jutsu lasts for a set period of time."

Hinata shook her head. "N-no, the technique isn't like that," she said. "Unless one of the embroidered stitches is completely severed, the omamori's powers ought to hold." The red stitches on her white talisman slowly pulsed, on and off. Did it mean that there were several sources of miasma around this area? Hinata turned around, and awkwardly ran towards the temple in her thick kimono. She slowed down as she reached the steps, and folded her hands together. 'Warashi-chan!'

Sasuke and Naruto awkwardly followed her by gliding against the fence. The masses were dispersing to the exit, so they had more leeway if they moved around the crowd rather than through it.

"Hiya!" Zashiki Warashi popped into visibility in front of the two. Naruto nearly yelled, and Sasuke almost pulled out a kunai in the midst of several well-dressed people.

After tripping through Warashi's form, Sasuke and Naruto slowed down. A sprint was not the best thing to perform on temple grounds. And no matter how much they hated it, they could not shout at the kid. They would look like a pair of idiots; Warashi was invisible and inaudible to the rest of the public.

Hinata was now mumbling one of the few Buddhist sutras she knew. Warashi flew about Hinata, and landed in front of her. "That specific psalm is not for the New Year, Hinata-neechan."

Hinata spun around at the chime of his voice. "Warashi-chan!" She glanced around. "...Where are you?"

Warashi jumped up and down, waving. Being short had its disadvantages. "I'm right here, in front of you."

Hinata blinked. She bent over, and rubbed her eyes. "Where are your feet, Warashi-chan?" the Priestess asked. "You look like those old paintings of ghosts."

Warashi stopped. "Huh?"

Naruto looked as his girlfriend quizzically. "There's nothing wrong with Warashi's feet, Hinata."

Sasuke privately agreed. As far as he could tell, Warashi looked just like a normal human child — he just was dressed in ancient peasant's clothing, and a bit transparent. His feet were perfectly fine.

Hinata's white eyes squinted at the ghost. "That's strange... Everything under your kimono trails into a hazy mist..."

A look of horror passed Zashiki Warashi at these words.

"Hinata-neechan," the specter whispered, "Are you losing your Sight?"

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	28. Curses

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 28: Curses

* * *

'I'm losing my Sight?' Hinata put both of her hands over her upper arms, as if cradling herself inward. 'No...'

This couldn't be happening to her. She was the Priestess of Souls. She needed her advanced vision to function.

Warashi rapidly stuttered. "Okay, okay, don't panic!" He paced the sidewalk next to the temple. "Let's see if I can get contact with someone higher up and ask about this... I know!" There was a dawning expression on his face, as if he remembered whom to call — and then his head dropped to his chin in disappointment. "Oh, yeah... My superiors severed all contact with me so that the Priestess' team would be more discreet, even among spirits. Maybe a run-in with a local kami might help..." He caught the disbelieving looks coming from Naruto and Sasuke. "I said don't panic!" the ghost exclaimed.

"The one who's panicking is you!" Naruto shot back.

Sasuke held up the blue-and-silver talisman in front of the ghost. "Could this have anything to do with it?"

Warashi looked at the omamori. He turned away. His hands tugged on his bushy hair, as if he were doing heavy mental work. He squatted down into a hoodlum position, mumbling gibberish to himself.

The three waited.

After a long pause, the ghost stood up, and turned back to them. "It's probably a curse."

There was a silence.

"Be more specific." Sasuke found himself pulling the wool scarf closer around his throat.

Zashiki Warashi looked at him. "Well... a curse is a curse."

Naruto sighed. "As in, what is it according to spirits." He pulled up something around his collar. A thin, green crystal on a string appeared. "How about this?" he challenged. "Is there a curse on it?"

Hinata and Sasuke stared at him. What was so special about a quartz necklace? It seemed as though Naruto were skeptical about Warashi's abilities.

The specter groaned. "You can't just hand me something and expect me to see it as cursed," Warashi said. "There are many types of curses. Some manifest themselves through physical deformities, like an illness. Others are detectable only by spiritually sensitive people, or by the aid of special rituals or items. A few items, you can only guess if they're cursed, based on a string of histories." The boy took a curious glance at the green necklace, shrugged, and then floated over to Hinata. "But what's important is figuring out what's happening to Hinata-neechan's vision!"

'I don't get it,' Naruto thought to himself. 'If the whole omamori is glowing, wouldn't that mean the whole village is cursed? That would be pretty large, and Kyuubi would have said something by now...'

Sasuke noticed a few people glancing at them curiously from a distance. Those who took care of the temple were especially concerned. Everybody else was leaving and going off to sleep. "I'll take the long way home, and probe around with my eyes and hearing," Sasuke said, quickly assigning a game plan. "Hyuuga, stay with the dunce —"

"Hey," Naruto growled.

"— as an escort," Sasuke continued, stuffing away the interruption. "Practice your bloodline limit in the night at home, on and off. If your normal Byakugan is effected as well... don't use it."

Warashi put up two arms, crossing them in an 'X'. "No!" he said. "You all have to get some rest! Try looking around on the way home. But I'll search the town while you're asleep."

* * *

Hinata brushed her hair quietly, kneeling before a dresser-mirror. Her hand opened a small lacquer case — red in color, and covered with the finest carvings of drifting clouds. It was the only memento she had left of her deceased mother.

The girl pulled the hairpins out of her midnight-blue hair. She wrapped the accessories with leftover scraps of sewing cloth, and placed them carefully into the jewelry box.

Her pearl eyes glanced up to the mirror. Warashi's paling form stood in its reflection. No matter how many times Hinata looked at him, his legs were enveloped in a hazy mist. The color of his clothes was mellowed down to a watery pastel. Her current condition was better than the white-and-black (or was it white-and-blue?) that Naruto and Sasuke possessed for seeing ghosts — but what if her eyes were growing worse?

Maybe she was not active enough in her duties as the Priestess, and the spirits decided to slowly remove her advanced vision. That wasn't so bad, individually speaking. Her normal Byakugan had not been affected yet by this odd disorder, so her abilities as a kunoichi, and a Hyuuga at that, were not challenged. In fact, there was the possibility that losing her advanced vision would improve her work as a ninja; she already had been tardy on two occasions because of supernatural forces appearing in the vicinity.

Yet it was still bad. They could be surrounded, and she might lose her ability to see Zashiki Warashi.

"Hinata-neechan," Warashi said quietly behind her, "do you feel okay?"

Hinata nodded. "I'm fine. Just a little tired." She got up in her pajamas, and walked over to her futon.

"I'll go fly a circle around the village," Warashi said, floating upward. "Good night! I'll get back to you as soon as I sense something — sleep, okay?"

"I will, Warashi-chan," Hinata returned. "Good night." She watched the ghost's form disappear through the ceiling. She lay down, and snuggled into the covers. 'What a manner in which to start the new year...'

The Priestess sunk into the thick futon. She shivered. It was difficult to fall asleep with this new predicament. Finally, she imagined that Naruto held her in a warm embrace. The comfort and ease of mind made her warm up, and pacified her into a deep slumber.

The door slid halfway open. Hanabi walked in, already dressed in her sleeping robes. A round wooden box with several scrolls rested in her arms.

"Onee-sama?" Hanabi whispered.

Hinata slept peacefully, undisturbed. Hanabi set the box of scrolls onto the tatami-mat, and crawled into her own futon.

* * *

Sasuke rotated his arms, stretching his muscles and warming up. A breath of mist escaped his mouth and poured into the cold air. The ninja had been unable to sleep. He could toss and turn on the bed, but not fall asleep. Sasuke had had a four-hour nap prior to the midnight bell ringing, which was immediately followed by a possible new threat, so how could he sleep now? Warashi had assured them that he'd investigate all night, the ghost that he was, but Sasuke still had a bad feeling about the whole thing.

So far, no monsters appeared. Warashi seemed to be correct in his theory that it was a curse. Sasuke trailed a few fingers on the left side of his neck. He could feel the three scars, however miniscule they were.

The avenger was, oddly enough, feeling some concern for the village. How could an entire town be marked?

He shook his head. Whether or not his sleep schedule had gone to the dogs, or that the village was cursed in some odd manner, Sasuke was determined to at least have something of his life that kept alive his concept of Order. And that was morning training.

And if he could slip in watching the Hatsuhi no De — the rising sun of New Year's Day — while training, then so much the better. It had been a while since he received visual beauty. (No, his own face in the mirror did not count.) And on this holiday morning, the other ANBU-hopefuls had their training off. Well, Uchiha Sasuke never rested for anything. Take that, ANBU.

Damn the know-it-all captain. (He still had not sent an explanation of how Naruto and Sasuke could have cheated on the written assignment.) Damn the holidays. Damn the new year.

The teenager sneezed. Sasuke looked around, wondering if anybody else had witnessed that.

Sasuke threw a punch, hoping that it would ease the threatening sniffle in his head. He performed a series of kicks and thrusts, now and then making his limbs blur through the air. At one moment, he kicked off the ground and threw ten shuriken at different angles — all the white targets in the trees around him were hit.

Sasuke touched down on his feet, sweat dampening the cloth of his hitai-ate. He pulled out a kunai from his holster, and spun it on his finger, using the metal ring on its end. Sasuke somehow felt more comfortable with shuriken. He liked their shape and form, and the task of weaving them together with wire in complex, geometric designs. One could also work wires through the kunai, but it was not as enjoyable. Sasuke only thought of kunai as defensive weapons if the enemy came very, very close to him with a blade of his own.

Like whoever was watching him from behind. Right now.

Sasuke turned around. A mess of what looked like snow appeared before him. Sasuke figured out that it was an illusion of daisy petals.

A kunoichi with sleek, blonde hair stood before him. She was dressed in purple clothing and white bandages. A pair of sapphire earrings sparkled around her ears. She walked up to Sasuke, raising her right hand.

Sasuke caught her wrist before she slapped him.

"What do you want, woman?" Sasuke hissed at Yamanaka Ino. He actually had begun to view her as somewhat sensible nowadays... but of course appearances deceived.

"I just wanted to inform you," Ino said sweetly, before her face took on a menacing snarl, "that you are an asshole, Uchiha Sasuke."

"That's no reason to walk up and attempt to strike me," Sasuke answered.

He flung her arm away. Ino shrieked. Sasuke noticed a light bruise on her wrist. He hadn't realized that his grip was so fierce. The ninja felt almost inclined to ask for forgiveness. Almost. She had tried to hit him first.

"Are you done insulting me?" he asked.

"I am not through with you yet!" Ino lectured. "I've been holding this in for years, and I can't take another second of it!" Pausing, she breathed like an intemperate wild boar. "Simply put, you are a brainless, coldhearted bastard!" she burst out. "You had an intelligent, innocent girl who was hopelessly in love with you, and you just... just threw her away like dirt! AGAIN!"

Sasuke looked at Ino as if she were crazy. He sneered at her tight clothing and bandages. "You don't seem very intelligent and innocent to me."

Ino swelled like a bullfrog. "Not me, I mean my best friend!" she exclaimed. "I thought Sakura was out of her mind, babysitting a traitor like you during your probation, while at the same time taking up intensive lessons with the Hokage... No wonder she was genin for so long; she never got a chance to study _normal_ shinobi matters, let alone SLEEP!" She inhaled and exhaled slowly, cooling down from her rant slightly. "And here you are now," she continued, "just training day in, day out, not even asking the Hokage to go search for Sakura, even when a woman with pink hair was recently sighted in the northern country—"

Sasuke grabbed Ino by the shoulders. Normally, he would never touch other people, but this was something important. "Is that true?" he hissed. He swore that he'd shake her if she were bluffing.

"Do you think I'd be lying if I were SCREAMING?" she screamed in his face. Ino felt her back hit the ground the next second: Sasuke had let go of her, and was now striding towards the village. "You bastard!" she exclaimed, getting up from the ground. "You can't just _drop_ a girl!"

Sasuke, meanwhile, was trying to think things over. The possibility of finding Sakura was there. It was slim, but it existed. This new information enforced it. And who cared about what the guardian of the river said? Even spirits were fallible; if they experienced life as individuals, then they could not possibly have a completely objective point of view...

A sleek sound interrupted Sasuke's thoughts. He turned around. Long, sharp needles flew towards him.

Sasuke's hands clapped together in front of his face. Senbon needles. He took a second glance at the pissed-off Ino. Thin lines of chakra danced around her body like a web.

The raven-haired ninja began to think that all normality might have dropped out from the situation.

A hazy image of a gigantic boar surrounded Ino. The kunoichi seemed to be the core of the ghost-like animal, which grew with furious aura.

Sasuke jumped away. 'What the hell...?'

He then saw Ino collapse — but not the boar. The whispery form enveloped the kunoichi as soon as her eyes displayed exhaustion. Ino floated within the clear-blue miasma, her pupils dilated. The boar's image began to grow lifelike, more real. Its lining of chakra turned into shaggy, red-and-brown fur. Cloudy whiskers morphed into solid bronze tusks, and purple foam dribbled from its jaws.

Sasuke slowly backed away. A monster boar had just jumped out of Ino. "A youkai?"

"Not yet," a voice from the animal warbled. "Once I drain this girl's soul completely, I will be solid enough to shred you to pieces." It scratched its hooves on the frosty ground, and aimed towards Sasuke. "Her frustration of you is very strong," the half-grown monster gurgled. "Not only does this Ino despise you for spurning Sakura, she also has a pent-up grudge that you took her best friend away. Sakura idolized her in their childhood, you see... And you killed that innocent girl."

A smirk. "An exaggeration," Sasuke dismissed. He slowly reached towards his pouch of ninja-tools. He decided to drive on the conversation, no matter how annoying it was. Sasuke needed time, and the perfect moment. Besides, the monster was only taking Ino's skewed opinions and twisting them to intimidate him. It was a good thing the boar — or Ino, whichever — had informed Sasuke of the reports. Whether it was a lie or not, it gave Sasuke a new boost of confidence. "Sakura may still be alive. Her body was not actually found."

"I'm not talking about her physical presence." The boar's voice seemed to have a double layer, with Ino's angry cry in the background. "You killed her spirit."

Sasuke went rigid in the jaws. The animal charged.

Sasuke kicked himself out of his freeze. This was ridiculous, he decided. He threw a set of shuriken towards the monster. He saw that the weapons hit on target — and were Sasuke not mistaken, he could see them slow down as they traveled into the boar.

'It's still transparent,' Sasuke realized. The boar moved as a clear, gummy shape. The shuriken and Ino were stuck in the middle, like bits of fruit in gelatin.

Sasuke briskly moved aside, evading the stampeding animal. There was the rip of fabric and a searing pain.

The dodge was close. One of the bronze tusks had made a large tear Sasuke's sleeve. The wound was just a nick — but if Sasuke had not been quicker, his arm could have been torn off. The transparent boar stomped in a circle, facing Sasuke again. Clouds of breath wafted around its nostrils.

Cold sweat appeared on the ninja's brow. Was it not Hinata's job to take care of matters like this?

Sasuke clenched his fists. No, he decided. He had to learn how to fight these things on his own, especially when youkai attacks were increasing, and Hinata's Sight was in possible jeopardy. Sasuke's black irises spun into a dark crimson. 'Sharingan!'

From what Sasuke gathered of the monster's image, its chakra was half the density of a regular person's chakra. The youkai itself was huge, so stacking all of that thin aura together definitely made brute force — but it was still incomplete.

Sasuke's red eyes glanced at the center. Around Ino's nose and mouth was a mold of air, which in turn was connected to two streams of bubbles leading to the demon's forehead. It was probably a roughly thrown-together breathing system, so that the monster could finish absorbing the chakra and whatever strong emotions Ino held — but at the speed the air-bubbles were traveling, the girl could not possibly survive long.

Sasuke could risk no more than two minutes. Ino could receive brain damage if he took longer than that. And if Sakura came back to find her childhood friend as a human vegetable — well, the consequences would be dire.

Sasuke quickly calculated his possibilities. Fire-jutsu... no. Even if he burned away the youkai from the outside, he couldn't quench the blaze fast enough to keep Ino unharmed. The water-jutsu he memorized were few — and were rather dreadful.

There was the Chidori, which was also very risky. The boar was moving too quickly. No matter how much Sasuke could concentrate the attack, there was a good chance that the youkai would berserk so that Ino was hit in the process.

The boar snarled. Purple miasma dripped from its jaws, and then hissed as it touched the ground. The shuriken held still in its form, although they were harder and harder to see due. The animal's color was condensing. Its form slowly turned more solid.

Sasuke's red eyes narrowed. The shuriken inside. The bronze tusks.

The ninja instilled chakra into his legs, and disappeared.

The youkai looked around. It was now turning red in the face.

"Over here." Sasuke's form stood calmly in front of a tree.

The boar ran, and drove itself against the shinobi with fiery rage. The ninja broke apart, the simple Bunshin it was. The boar skidded, but then jolted to a halt. It drew its head back — only to discover that it couldn't. Its bronze tusks were nailed inside the wood of the tree. The animal was stuck.

The real Sasuke stepped out from behind a different tree. He spun a kunai around his finger, smirking. "As I thought," he muttered, "no matter how terrifying it looks, it's just a dumb animal in the end."

Hearing the snide remark, a large vein emerged from the beast's forehead. Its hooves dug into the ground.

There were several roaring snaps. The boar-youkai uprooted the tree within its bronze tusks.

Partly horrified, Sasuke nicked his thumb over the kunai he held. Damn it, what was with him and his tongue? It seemed like he could say nothing but the negative.

The boar tossed off the offending plant. The tree crashed down with a booming noise. The youkai then charged towards Sasuke.

'Kuchiyose no Jutsu!'

A twenty-foot long anaconda burst from Sasuke's crossed hands, and flew towards the rampaging boar. "Circle it, don't crush!" the ninja commanded.

The thick reptile whizzed around the youkai — it resisted the urge to strangle it like any other prey, just holding tight. The boar let off an annoyed grunt, and struggled against its captor.

Sasuke pulled out a kunai. His aim had to be perfect for this one. He instilled the weapon with chakra, and then threw it towards the boar.

The flying kunai streamed through the transparent beast, like a harpoon through water. It went through the center hole of a floating shuriken, and emerged out from the other side. Sasuke appeared there, and grabbed the slimy weapon from the hide. He pulled, only moving far enough so that the boar wouldn't lash him in case the anaconda lost a grip.

Sasuke ignored the stinging sensation around his hands from the 'blood' of the monster. If Ino was inside the boar, looking perfectly fine in appearance, then the slime sticking around his hand was just temporary pain. Probably.

Sasuke wiped off the slime from the kunai. He made it glow blue with chakra, and threw it into the boar again. Sasuke disappeared, and reappeared on the other side to catch the same kunai

The monster grunted. " What do you think you're doing?" the boar asked. " 'Pain' is a foreign concept to me." The boar sank his jaws into the anaconda in crushing force, making the snake's eyes and jaws open wide.

The youkai bit into a snakeskin.

The anaconda encircled Sasuke, almost in a desperate manner. It had escaped, performing the Kawarimi no Jutsu with its own skin. "He's too strong," it hissed in the ears of its master. The reptile noticed a slimy bundle of wires in Sasuke's hands. "What's that for?"

Sasuke gave a fierce tug on the strings. "This."

The boar let off a rumbling cry. Ino was burst out of its right side, and was dragged to the ground in a slimy mess, held by the wires that Sasuke held at the other ends. Attached to the very end of the wire, was the kunai he had thrown multiple times through the boar: he had made a net of wires around Ino while she was still inside, by using a kunai and wire like a sewing needle, with the already-imbedded shuriken as focal points.

Sasuke ran to the unconscious girl, not wishing to drag her by wires — carrying her was faster. He pulled her up over his shoulders, and backed away from the squealing boar. 'Pain a foreign concept to him? Feh.'

Sasuke let down Ino behind a tree. He then stepped towards the writhing demon. "I don't particularly like that girl, but she's a friend of a friend." Sasuke clapped his hands through several In. Blue sparks began to form in his left hand. "You have some nerve, using her."

"You strike me with that," the monster gurgled, an insane look in its beady eyes, "and that woman there dies. She's mentally connected with me, after all."

The raven-haired shinobi paused. He glanced at the unconscious Ino from the corner of his eye. "A lie," he called over the screeching Chidori. Sasuke then grinned — a frightening sight, if any of his acquaintances could have seen it. "Besides, if even if were true, it's not like I would really _care_."

The ninja charged towards the lame animal, and threw the Chidori in.

There was first a sickening blast. The miasma rushed out, and then turned into a weak, melting hole. To Sasuke's relief, he did not even feel a burn from the substance. It was only very, very messy.

As the boar let off an ear-splitting roar, Sasuke briefly noticed that his Chidori was not a homogenous color: there were a few jagged lines of gray thrashing within the bright, light-blue sparks. The dark gray was difficult to discern, but there it was. Sasuke felt an odd, cold pleasure at its sight.

Sasuke yanked out his glowing hand from the boar's heart, or what existed there of it. He jumped away, just before the youkai exploded. The remaining pool of miasma on the ground hissed out of sight.

After ten seconds of silence, the shinobi threw a kunai on to the site of death, just to make sure the stuff was truly finished. The weapon stuck on the burnt ground. It held like a statue. Sasuke sighed in relief.

Sasuke walked over to Ino. "Hey." He gently shook the kunoichi on one shoulder. "Yamanaka." No reaction. He walked back to the kunai to retrieve it.

Just as Sasuke was about to pull it out, his ear received a deafening shot.

"WHAT IS THIS GUNK ON MY CLOTHES?" Ino shrieked. There was clear, slightly-white gel all over her — not just over her clothing, but on her skin, and through her hair as well. Was it glue? Or even worse... 'Is this... is this...'

Sasuke put a hand on his forehead. Could anybody say migraine from noise?

To Ino's relief, the material was quickly evaporating away. "Good; it's not what I thought it was," she said briskly. Probably some sort of genjutsu, she thought.

"What did you _think_ it was?" Sasuke asked.

Ino froze. She slowly looked up. "Um..." The blond fidgeted, a confused look on her face. "Sasuke-kun, how did I get here?"

* * *

Zashiki Warashi buoyed himself in the air above Konoha. He hung upside down, studying the people. He couldn't see any trace of a curse... which was pretty bad, because then it would reveal itself in many damaging ways.

The ghost wafted down to one of the apartment complexes. He rubbed his forehead with his index fingers. 'Naruto-niichan's apartment number...I forgot.' He shrugged. 'I'll just mosey through all of them until I find his.'

And so the ghost-child sank into the roof. He strode through the walls, taking his own private tour through each apartment, completely disregarding whoever and whatever he saw in them because Naruto wasn't there.

Finally, he stepped into Naruto's apartment. Specifically, the bathroom's shower. With it running. And Naruto in it.

This was not what a normal person called the ideal wake-up call.

"DAAAAH!" Naruto stumbled out of the shower, half-covered in soapy water. He quickly took the towel hanging on the rack, and wrapped it around his waist. "Warashi!"

"What's that around your bellybutton?" Warashi asked. The water showered right through his image with no hindrance.

"What do you think you're doing?" Naruto asked furiously. "I want my privacy!"

"Come on, it's not like I haven't _seen_ anything these past several centuries," the ghost said. Warashi pointed to the wall he had just passed through. "You should have seen the two in room 301. They were going at it in the water like—"

"Don't say it!" Naruto warned. He pointed at the door leading to the very narrow hallway. "Let me finish, _alone_."

Warashi stomped through the closed door. "What a grouch!"

After Naruto finished his shower and was adequately dressed, he walked into the kitchen. He put a skillet on the stove, and poured a dab of oil on from a nearby bottle. The blond took out an egg from the refrigerator.

Warashi seated himself on the counter. "You cook, Naruto-niichan?"

"Hell yeah," the blond said, cracking the egg into a bowl. He poured some milk in, and whipped the mixture with a pair of chopsticks. "I can make breakfast, at least. I'm so-so in lunch and dinner stuff." He poured the egg mixture on the skillet, allowing it to cook a while before scrambling it.

Warashi stared at the stovetop. "It's been so long since I've eaten anything..."

Naruto looked at Warashi. "Oh. Sorry..." He hadn't realized the simple act of preparing food would make the kid feel bad.

"Don't worry about it!" Warashi said, waving his hands in front of him. "Eat. You actually need it, unlike me. That kind of thing is reserved for the living." He grinned. "That means I'm not hooked."

"That's a bright way to look at it," Naruto said, searching for the salt and pepper. 'I don't think I'd be able to cope as a ghost for very long,' he thought. 'Watching other people eat ramen without having some myself...'

"By the way, you didn't answer my question."

Naruto looked up. "Huh?"

"That swirl around your bellybutton," Warashi said. "What is it?"

Naruto stirred the eggs with the chopsticks. Well, the kid _was_ Hinata's guardian ghost. Warashi would find out sooner or later. "Promise me you won't tell Hinata."

Warashi acted appalled. "You're keeping secrets from your girlfriend?"

"Shh!" Naruto hushed. He then realized that it didn't matter how loud Warashi spoke. He then lowered his own tone of speaking. "Look, I want to tell her on my own. It's kind of serious, all right?"

"You have a disease that's transmitted by coupling?" Warashi asked in awe. He saw Naruto's chopsticks break against the skillet. "...Okay, you don't," the ghost concluded. "But still, remember that when you do it with Hina—"

"I have the Kyuubi sealed inside my naval!" Naruto hissed before Warashi could continue to skip off on the wrong path.

Warashi's swinging legs stopped.

"_You're_ the vessel?" the ghost asked, after a moment's silence. "Of the Nine-tails?"

Naruto realized that the eggs were starting to burn. He pulled the skillet off the stove, and began scraping the food onto the toasted bread. "You think I'd joke about something like that?" Naruto asked, annoyed.

To Naruto's amazement, a gleam suddenly lit up the ghost's face as if a positive, eternal truth had been revealed to him. "That is so COOL!" Warashi exclaimed. "So this is why you have an freaky sense of smell and hearing at random times!"

Naruto looked back down on his breakfast. He gulped. "It's not... _that_ cool," Naruto muttered, although a small glow of pride threatened to swell inside him. "Some of the older villagers hate me. The energy burns out my chakra arteries if I use it too long. The damn animal listens and sees what I do, and throws insults..."

"But still, that is awesome!" Warashi insisted. "The villagers should be praising you for being able to hold it in the first place! And you aren't all dark and insane, like that Ichibi-vessel in the Wind Country..."

"Gaara's a friend of mine," Naruto said. "And he is sane now." He took a bite from his eggs-on-toast. 'Well, at least I _hope_ he is. They made him Kazekage, after all.'

"Wait a second..." Warashi put a hand over his mouth. "Niichan, you might be able to do demon-sealing!"

Naruto felt a strange vibe through his body. "Demon-sealing?" he repeated.

The roar of a monster fox cascaded through his mind. Naruto clutched his ears. **'Noisy little dead BRAT!'** the Kyuubi roared. **'Saying unnecessary things!'**

Warashi looked at the ninja, who was now resting his head on the refrigerator as if seasick. "He heard that, didn't he?" the ghost asked. Naruto answered with a nod. "Shouldn't he know that if he's completely freed from that kind of prison, both you and he would die?" Warashi pointed out.

**'He does not have to remind me.'**

Naruto sighed. For the first time ever, he had heard the Kyuubi's scary voice as almost... depressed. "What would be the point for sealing?" Naruto asked.

"Just to provide a backup, if a seal — or in your case, a double-seal — fails or is attacked," the child with bushy hair answered. "And there are sealing-jutsu that resist many energies, not just youki. It's pretty handy if you want to become Hokage."

"Like the Yondaime..." Naruto ignored the canine snarl in the back of his brain. Well, he _had_ mentioned to Sasuke that they should look up on sealing, since Hinata might not be able to purify all demons. "My library card is limited, though. And even the scrolls Sasuke borrowed don't give any real jutsu."

"Greedy, aren't they?" Warashi asked.

"No," the blond shinobi answered. "Just paranoid." He took a mouthful of cold milk.

Warashi stood up on the tabletop. He flashed a brilliant smile to Naruto. "Don't worry, Naruto-niichan! I'll get you a jutsu in no time — even if I have to smuggle it!"

He disappeared with a pop.

Naruto emptied his glass. Sometimes he wondered if that ghost was leeching off his optimism. The blond walked over to the sink, and put the cup down.

'Demon-sealing, huh...' Naruto had been about to give up on that prospect because of lack of information, but Warashi appeared to know what he was talking about. Naruto poured hot water into the skillet to help loosen the burnt egg. He switched back to the sink to take care of the dishes — his dish-rack hardly ever piled up, mostly because Naruto possessed very few cooking and eating utensils.

Just when he began to scrub the skillet, Naruto heard a pop.

Warashi appeared in the sink, his feet in the soapy water.

"Can't you find a _normal_ place to appear?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto-niichan," Warashi said nervously, "I can't get into the Hyuuga residence."

* * *

Hinata drew herself up from the futon. She glanced at the clock, and realized that she had overslept. Well, it was a holiday. She rubbed her eyes to get the sleep-gunk out.

The teenager noticed the cylindrical wooden box on the floor. She guessed it to be Hanabi's property, so she didn't touch it.

Hinata breathed in the cold air. She looked at her omamori, which she kept on a loose string under her pajamas at night. It was still faintly glowing in all places. Warashi had promised to come to her immediately if something happened.

The girl noticed that there was some sort of heaviness in the air. It was different from the winter chill that always managed to penetrate their large mansion. Hinata pulled a winter-overcoat on top of her pajamas.

She stepped out of her room. A dark, empty hall greeted her. Hinata expected at least another person of the clan to be walking the hallways at this time in the morning.

Hinata stepped next to a window. Her omamori warmed up against the skin of her chest.

Hinata quickly turned her head at the paper-and-wood window next to her. There was something there. Swallowing, she flicked her hands quietly into the In. 'Byakugan!'

There was no monster outside. Hell, there was no definite form. Only a white fog enveloped the whole mansion. Hinata gave another boost of chakra to her eyes, willing her visions to see past the mist.

A harsh pain traveled through her head.

Hinata kept herself from crying out loud. Screaming was not allowed in the Hyuuga mansion. Panic was the last thing to do, especially during a possible attack. Besides, she did not want to show her weakness to her relatives.

Hinata touched her face, and felt the skin under her eyes. It was smooth.

Hinata swallowed. Her normal Byakugan didn't seem to go any more that ten meters. Moreover, it turned off without her order.

The Priestess slid down against the wall, and sat on the ground. Something was very wrong. Even though she had a pretty good sleep, there was not enough chakra in her to activate her bloodline limit. Or perhaps it was gone altogether. It was as if she were in a whole different world. The house was completely quiet. None of her relatives seemed to be awake.

Hinata noticed her shadow, dancing on the dark wooden floor. She looked up to the opposite direction.

A small form was on the other end of the hallway, holding a candle. "Onee-sama?"

"Hanabi..."

Hanabi hastened towards Hinata. "The power seems to be out."

Hinata saw a looming figure behind her little sister. "Hanabi, watch out!"

* * *

Notes:

"Ino", or just "I" - an archaic term for 'boar', especially when referring to the sign of the Chinese Zodiac. (It has to be the meaning of Ino's name, because she wore a badge with its kanji on it while watching Shikamaru fight in the Chuunin Exams.) This is why Sakura called Ino "Ino-buta" or 'Ino-pig'. Now the more commonly-used word for 'boar' is "Inoshishi".

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	29. The Nest Upon the Leaf

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Sorry for the late update, to the faithful readers out there. This past summer, my father has been growing a new addiction: Internet forums, especially those discussing the German spelling reform. I've heard it's quite the political hassle. And my sister decided that to increase her knowledge on Academic Decathlon material, she would type the study guides out, _word for word,_ on the computer. Thus both computers of the house were taken. (I'm starting to regret telling my parents that I didn't need a laptop until graduate school.) The time I actually received browsing the Internet had been spent on reading manga scanlations, a huge world mythology book, and other fanfictions. So even though I'd _like_ to pin the blame on my family (my mom's the only normal person), the fault is really all mine.

One reviewer, catc10, asked how I picked up tidbits such as Ino's name. Well, when I flip through the manga, I just sort of notice these useless little pieces of information, you know? At least I figured out what kind of animal for Ino to associate with if she ever was possessed.

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 29: The Nest Upon the Leaf

* * *

Hinata ran to her Hanabi, frantic to get there in time. Her right hand touched her sister's shoulder, pushing her back and away from the shadow on the floor.

Hanabi shrieked and stumbled onto the wooden floor.

Hinata powered up white chakra in her palm. Even if she did not have enough chakra to activate the Byakugan, she could still control a small stream of holy ki to her hands for combat. Her main objective was keeping that beast away from Hanabi.

Hinata's glowing palm thrust towards the shadow, and she cried out. "Hah!"

The black, airy image jumped around the white light, escaping the attack. Hinata's foot slipped on the waxed floor. She saw the straight lines of the wood planks waver for a brief moment.

The Priestess regained her balanced, and pivoted on the sole of her foot to turn around. She reached to grab the thin shade, or blast some ki at it, anything... "Hanabi, RUN!"

Hanabi looked strangely at her older sister. The blazing candle made her shadow whip around the floor.

"What was _that_ for?" the eleven-year-old said. "You almost made me drop my candle."

Hinata gulped. It looked like she had mistaken Hanabi's shadow as a demon. "I... I thought I sensed an ambush behind you." The heiress gracefully picked herself up from the cold floor. The Priestess raised a hand, nearing it towards Hanabi's forehead. "Do you feel all right, Hanabi? It's so early in the morning."

Hanabi withdrew with nervous speed. "I'm fine," she muttered, as if irritated of any action remote to petting. Her face was illuminated by the candlelight: it almost added a tint of sadness to her eyes. She took careful steps down the hallway, back to their room. "I just was out for a glass of water. I'm going back to bed."

Hinata kept her head cool. She had a bad feeling — her inability to mold chakra might have been due to lack of sleep, but she never felt this drained before. 'What was that shadow?' Hinata wondered. 'I swore it moved too quickly, even in Hanabi's candlelight. Are my eyes affected that much?'

Hinata followed her sister back to the room. "Hanabi..."

Hanabi snapped irritably. "What?"

Hinata, looking at Hanabi, suddenly felt that she was facing her own father. "I..." she began, yet faltered.

She was confused with the situation. Hanabi's temper was unsurprising; it was extremely dark outside, and they had had only a few hours' sleep. But the strange shadow: was it hiding somewhere?

"I'm sorry if I fuss over you too much," Hinata finally told her little sister. Once it flew out of her mouth, Hinata realized it was quite near the truth. At least, that was what it seemed from her perspective. She just couldn't help it as an older sister with their mother deceased.

Hanabi paused, standing over her futon. Her form quivered. "You don't fuss over me." Her voice seemed to choke.

Hinata stopped. Was Hanabi crying? She began to walk towards her in concern.

Suddenly, Hinata felt a weight crush her lungs. Her knees buckled, and hit the tatami mat. 'What?' The painted shouji-door shut by itself. Hinata squeaked as she looked at the closed door.

Hinata turned back to the state of her little sister. "Hanabi?"

Hanabi turned around, facing Hinata once more. "If anything, you don't take the help I offer _you_."

Hanabi's expression was a startling one, even for a Hyuuga. It was a strange mix of emotions. Her eyes were blank, as if she were a mindless doll, yet she was also an emotional eleven-year-old girl with tears welling up in her eyes. Her expression was unsound, with a frown of suppressed anger.

Hinata realized that she couldn't move. She was too scared. She had never seen Hanabi like this, not even in a duel with her. She was terrified of her younger sister.

The blue-haired kunoichi pulled off a swallow. Even that gesture hurt, as if a severe cold had infected her throat.

"Hanabi..." Hinata's voice was barely more than a whisper. "What are you doing to Hanabi?"

* * *

Naruto ran through the streets, advancing towards the Hyuuga estate. He declined traveling by roof; all the tiles were frosted over by the cold winter. He was not too compromised on speed. Even though the New Year's Day streets were filled to the drim, it was quite effortless for a ninja like him to run through without bumping into any well-dressed people.

The morning air held a strong, pungent odor, heavier than the day before. Naruto leaped over a fence as part of his grounded shortcut. He passed a kimono-clad lady. 'Damn it, more people are coming out!' He turned into an alley for a shortcut.

A hot sensation feathered his wrist. Naruto immediately fumbled with his sleeve, and pulled out the talisman. He remembered Hinata informing him that the inner wrist was one of the areas most sensitive to heat, so he had strung some thread through the top loop of the omamori and now wore it like a bracelet.

The gold shone bright in the center, as if blinking in alarm. Something was close. The blond shinobi slowed down his pace. He glanced around. Seeing nothing, feeling nothing, his slipped into a more open avenue.

What a mistake.

A mass of clear-blue miasma rushed from his left. A curse flew out of Naruto's mouth as he jumped back into the alley, only to have the wave follow after him. He quickly put chakra in his legs and feet, and sprinted up the inner walls of the alley. He stuck on the wall halfway up. There secured, he observed the glob of miasma.

It had stopped in the alley, right beneath him. It now and then let off a gurgle. It extended a pseudopod over the bricks, as if trying to pick up Naruto's trail.

Naruto's lips began to quiver. Laughter threatened to scream out of him. This was a rather daft scene. A giant blob of slime: this was what horror and science fiction were made of.

Naruto, shaking in mirth, tuned in his connection to the nine-tailed fox. 'Tell me how to get rid of that,' Naruto ordered. 'Please.'

Kyuubi snorted. **'Why would I tell you that?'**

The situation appeared to look less laughable now.

'Excuse me?' Naruto mentally spoke up. 'I'm sort of in a _pinch_ right now, and you don't even give me advice?'

Something of a yawn rumbled through Naruto's plane of thoughts. '**You've been depending too much on me as of late. Figure it out.'**

And with that, the fearsome youkai hung up on the other end.

The clear gel began to feel its way around the wall with multiple pseudopods — and to Naruto's disgust, slithered up the wall. Naruto hastily climbed upward, sending chakra to all four limbs to adhere easily to the bricks, and flipped onto the top. It wasn't a tiled roof the whole way. A flat stab of concrete eventually met his sandals. The blond shinobi nervously trekked across.

Sure enough, the mass collected over the edge of the building, and oozed towards Naruto.

Naruto decided that he really, really hated Kyuubi's guts. 'Great,' Naruto commented sarcastically. 'I'm being chased by goo.'

The miasma moved slowly, save that quick burst of climbing. Naruto could easily run. But he couldn't just _leave_ it there. He did not really understand what it was capable of, let alone what it could be. It looked like a blown-up amoeba, if anything. Rather primitive creature... But appearances were deceiving. Real amoebas were predatory, after all. What if that hunk of miasma down there was acidic or something? What if it attacked people?

Naruto blinked. Now that he examined it, it was shaping more like an animal of some sort. As the mass pulled and twisted, Naruto's face turned from amusement to surprise to horror.

Finally he recognized what shape the gel was taking: 'TIGER!'

The gel's form sharpened into a monstrous tiger. The clear-blue monster bounded after Naruto. The blond cursed as he jumped away. 'Damn it, I have to get to Hinata's place, not battle a clump of gel! And where's that Zashiki Warashi, anyway?'

The ghost had informed him about the strange barrier around the Hyuuga estate. He was the reason Naruto had gotten out of his cozy home in the first place.

Naruto had no time to think about Warashi further. The translucent beast was already too close.

Just as the tiger opened his mouth to bite Naruto, the blond shinobi threw a kunai. The weapon sank into the roof of the tiger's mouth. A dazed look overcame the transparent beast — it did not howl in pain as Naruto had predicted. In fact, the kunai sank into the tiger's head, as if being absorbed.

Naruto crossed his fingers. "Kage-bunshin no Jutsu!" Mellow explosions sounded out.

The snarling tiger pinned Naruto to the concrete floor of the building top. Saliva splattered over Naruto's form. "Oh, gross!" the blond exclaimed in disgust. The tiger clamped its teeth on Naruto's face.

Something popped.

The monster hit the ground on its paws. The human had disappeared, and it tasted nothing but leftover chakra and smoke on its tongue. The half-developed youkai turned around, and saw multiple copies of the prey.

Naruto held out his hand as one of his Kage-bunshin helped him mold a Rasengan together. His cerulean eyes did not even flicker as the tiger ripped through half of his shadow-clones within two seconds. 'Hold steady...'

Naruto dodged the monster's claws. Just as he was about to throw the Rasengan into the tiger-demon, he noticed a brownish lump into its stomach. He pushed the attack in.

The whirling sphere of chakra ripped through the beast's head and spinal area. Naruto deactivated it just when his hand trailed towards the dark mass. The touch of miasma was slimy rather than harmful; Naruto could hold his arm in for a little while. When the slobbering tiger had pounced on his Kage-bunshin during its first attack, Naruto had been able to observe its 'saliva' and conclude that the monster's body fluid was quite safe on contact.

Naruto wasn't sure about the brown mass, though. He carefully poked it, and discovered a feather-like texture. He grabbed the thing and pulled it out of the tiger's side.

A shadow fell over Naruto. A large paw of the tiger slammed into his abdomen. He went flying across the building's top, and then off the edge.

'Shit! Not again!'

Naruto had already lost count of how many times he was pushed off of some cliff or high edge. He hugged the unknown squishy ball to his chest, and immediately tucked and rolled as how he remembered. He relaxed in the correct areas, hoping that the three-level drop would not hurt _too_ much.

His sandals made flat contact with the alley. Pain cascaded through his legs. Curses, and even tears, threatened to come out of him.

Naruto then remembered the dark-brown lump that he had pulled out of the tiger-demon, and that it was in his arms. He held it up to examine it. It was brown, slimy, and quivering.

There was a frantic yowl.

Two sets of claws drew across Naruto's face. And they were not from the tiger on the roof. It was rather from... another tiger. Or to be more specific, a domesticated cat with the _name_ of Tiger.

"TORA!" Naruto held the brown-furred cat at an arm's distance. It hissed, as if both terrified and angry. A red ribbon was tied mercilessly on its ear. "You escaped the daimyo's wife again?"

Naruto then noticed something sparkle above. The sound of intense, high frequency twitters laced the air — and then there was a fluidic splat.

Naruto's blue eyes widened in horror as many bucketfuls of clear-blue miasma shot off the roof and fell to where he stood.

* * *

The Chidori in Sasuke's hand flickered out. Sweat dampened every piece of clothing the ninja wore. He would have gladly stripped halfway were it not dangerous to do so in this wind-chill.

The tiger, which Sasuke had spotted half-torn several rooftops away, now was nothing more than a puddle of blue gel. Sasuke knew that someone must have been fighting it before, due to the chunky slash on the monster's head. When Sasuke had realized that the tiger was trying to regenerate itself, he jumped in to complete the job.

Where was the first attacker, anyway?

"DAH!" a familiar voice echoed from the lower alley.

Sasuke sighed, and walked over to check what unfortunate person had taken a shower of leftover youkai-ooze. It evaporated quickly off, but it was still wet and unpleasant. Sasuke's left hand already felt cold and numb.

The Uchiha peered over the side. Some part of him wanted to burst out laughing at the sight of a slime-covered Naruto. "Hey, Idiot," Sasuke called down.

The now very frightened Tora was fighting tooth and nail to escape Naruto. "Ow ow ow ow ow ow!" Naruto exclaimed. He clasped the scruff of the cat's neck with his fingers, and let the cat thrash out on thin air instead of his flesh. He glared up at Sasuke. "Is it dead?" Naruto shouted up.

Sasuke skipped down the brick walls into the alley, and landed next to Naruto.

"I finished it," Sasuke said. He looked at the brown cat. "Was this one the host?"

Naruto blinked. "Whaddya mean?" Tora was now curling its hind feet up, somewhat relaxed that the human who held him was _not_ squeezing his ribs to death.

"I mean, did that _thing_ up there," Sasuke asked, pointing a thumb upward, "grow out of _that_." He pointed at the feline in Naruto's arms, and drew back his index finger when Tora lashed out.

Naruto looked at the cat. "I found him inside the monster, and pulled him out." The blond's nose wrinkled when Tora sneezed out clear puss. As the slime evaporated from the pet's fur, a string of glimmering jewels revealed itself around Tora's throat.

Naruto eyed the stones. He had heard of pet owners who pampered their animals, but he had never thought of a jeweled collar before. "Woaw," Naruto said after a whistle. "Gaudy."

Sasuke's black eyes narrowed. "They look genuine." He reached over, and began to fumble with the collar around Tora's neck.

"What do you think you're doing?" Naruto asked incredulously. "Trying to steal it?"

"No," Sasuke answered, unbuckling the strap. He noticed that it was fitted a bit too snug around the cat. "Listen. During my morning training, Yamanaka Ino attacked me."

Naruto let this information sink in. "Ino... attacked you?"

"Yeah," the Uchiha said with a shrug. "And then a large, see-through boar came out of her. Which also attacked me." Sasuke slid the jeweled collar off Tora — the cat's eyes closed in what looked like peaceful bliss.

"You had a boar that... looked like the tiger up there?" Naruto carefully cradled the sleepy feline. To his surprise, the cat began to knead his arm. "What about Ino?"

"Safe. She wasn't too happy when I did this to her earrings, though." Sasuke threw the jeweled collar up in the air. The ninja performed a set of hand-seals, the last one a Tiger-In. 'Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!'

Naruto went slack-mouthed as Tora's possession was drowned in a ball of fire. Tora didn't seen to care, curling up in Naruto's arms.

"Sasuke! That's the daimyo's wife's cat's collar!" the blond ranted. "We're going to be in deep shit!"

The raven-haired ninja stayed calm. "We'll be even deeper shit if that _thing _on it isn't destroyed."

Naruto stared. "What thing?"

Sasuke walked over to the charred remains of the collar, and briefly brushed them with a finger. He picked them up, already cool to the touch, and held them up to Naruto. "Recognize something?"

Naruto's cerulean eyes squinted. He saw nothing except a thin string of burnt leather, jewels, and the metal bindings that held them.

And then, he noticed the center jewel. It looked like a real diamond, but that was not what caught Naruto's interest. There was a black dewdrop on its corner. Tiny lines of youki streamed from the area.

"Hey, that's a demon egg!" Warashi exclaimed. "Not destroyed, though. Just bloated."

The two shinobi looked at the hovering ghost.

"Where have you been?" Naruto asked, his eyebrow twitching.

"That's my line," Warashi answered. "I told you that Hinata-neechan's place is shutting its place off to me, and I was going to wait at the front gate for you. You're the one who's studying sealage!"

"Sealing," Naruto corrected, somehow feeling that he was picking up Iruka's teaching nature when speaking with the ghost-child. Wanting to get to the point, he continued, "What the heck do we do with this egg, anyway?"

Warashi tapped his forehead. "Um... you stab it through with—"

Sasuke flicked out a kunai, concentrated gray chakra in its blade, and thrust its point into the black sphere. The egg burst into a tiny cloud of black smoke, and disappeared into the air.

Warashi looked amazed for a second — and then absolutely delighted. "Yeah, that's it!" His hands clapped together. "And that's some cool chakra color!"

"It's nothing," answered Sasuke. The gray aura withdrew from the kunai as a string and disappeared into his hand, almost like a retractable whip.

Naruto's eyes took on a suspicious air. "When did you learn _that?_"

"The boar revived two times out of Ino," Sasuke said with a grimace, "and I figured out that the earrings had been the source. I experimented on what the Brat told us two months ago." He ignored the 'Meanie!' comment from Warashi.

Naruto bit his lower lip. "Two months...?"

Zashiki Warashi let off a sigh. "Didn't you listen? Youkai-eggs inflate if some elemental magic is applied, and burst apart if enough destructive ki is given. So Sasuke-niichan flamed the jewelry first to make the eggs bigger and easier to see, then stabbed them with a charged blade."

Naruto scratched his head, trying to remember when Warashi had told him about demon eggs. He then looked at the charred remains in his hand. "You know, Sasuke... You didn't have to destroy the _whole_ collar," Naruto pointed out.

"It was bad taste." Without another word, Sasuke grabbed the leftovers from Naruto's hand.

"Hey, what are you—"

"Safe-keeping," the raven-haired shinobi answered.

In truth, Sasuke planned no such thing. He had to find some sort of way to repay Ino for the damage to her earrings, and his paycheck as a monitored chuunin could not cover them. When Sasuke had pulled the earrings off (while she was _watching_, no less), cooked them with the Goukakyuu no Jutsu, and then rammed them through with a glowing kunai, the blonde kunoichi was more than pissed off. The sapphires were still in perfect shape, and of course the youkai egg was destroyed, which was what Sasuke had been aiming for — but the metal bindings must have been cheap, for they had melted into indiscernible lumps from the fire-jutsu.

Normally, Sasuke would have scoffed off Ino's demands for compensation. But she had made an offer that Sasuke simply couldn't refuse.

(( "Uchiha Sasuke!" Ino shouted. "If you don't pay me back the full price of those earrings, I will cut off your balls and EAT them!" ))

He only had to pawn off the remains of Tora's collar in a different village. He didn't care about the daimyo's wife; the only thing she cared about was the close proximity of her cat, and that it was alive enough for her to hug (or in laymen's terms, squeeze until it fell in a coma). She would be only happy that Tora was still alive, and just buy him a new collar.

"C'mon, hurry!" Warashi whined at Naruto. He briefly looked at Sasuke. "Sasuke-niichan, can you do some more demon-slaying while we're at the Hyuuga's? Naruto-niichan doesn't do it quickly as you."

"I know." A smug look was on Sasuke's ivory face. "Go ahead."

Warashi took off through the air. Naruto glared daggers at his rival, before running out of the alleyway and after the flying ghost.

* * *

"Hinata-sama, Hanabi-sama! You're both late for morning training."

Neji sighed.

"Hiashi-sama is growing displeased..."

Neji had been reciting this for the past minute in front of Hinata and Hanabi's room. His patience was wearing thin. Banging on the door was out of the question, because that only worked with wooden doors. Sliding shouji-doors were made of paper, and had a tendency to receive ugly holes if one applied too much pressure.

"HINATA-SAMA."

Neji hoped that Hinata would not be frightened to death by his tone of voice. Only frightened enough to get up.

No response.

Neji shook his head. He reached for the crevice in the shouji-door. He could have turned on the Byakugan, but he decided not to. It was sort of a silent agreement in the Hyuuga clan to reserve that ability to only shinobi-matters. You would not really like it if you were undressing, and relatives happened to see through the walls. Privacy was a value in the Hyuuga clan. Neji only wanted to open the door slightly, so that his voice would carry louder into the room — he wasn't much of a screamer.

Neji touched the crevice of the door. He pulled.

The door didn't budge. Neither sideways, nor forwards.

"Hinata-sama? Did you block the door?"

The prodigy grew concerned. He decided to activate his Byakugan, just for one moment. The veins spread around his eyes like rivers down a mountain.

His white eyes peered at the room. A thick net of chakra-filled strings came in his vision. It was as if the door and the entire walls were covered, barricading the inside of the room from his vision. Neji frowned.

Another voice coolly cut into the hallway. "Why are you using the Byakugan before the bedroom of your cousins?"

Neji's head turned to the side, the veins around his eyes melting away. Hyuuga Hiashi was calming walking towards him.

"Hiashi-sama!" Neji half-expected his uncle to activate the seal on his forehead for trying to 'peep' in his daughters' room. "There's..." He swallowed.

"At ease, Neji." Hiashi stood before the shouji door. His eyes turned pure white, surrounded by web-like veins.

The room in which his two daughters most recently moved in together (they had requested it for 'recovery purposes') was almost unreadable. The chakra that lined the walls was so intense in power that one could see almost nothing of the room: it was just a huge, shining box. The only thing Hiashi could discern was that _a lot_ of chakra was there in the room. More than what two teenage girls could give off, even more than five grown men.

Hiashi put a hand on Neji's shoulder, and pulled his nephew down the hallway.

"A decent force-field," Hiashi whispered. "Incomplete, as I can see faint images of Hinata and Hanabi. Anything could be happening to them in there." He let go, sensing that Neji was already following him around the corner. "Go fetch five people from our house, and also the Hokage. I'll try to find a weak spot of the door until she gets here."

Neji bowed, and turned to walk — no, run — down the hall. But after he raised one foot, an orange-and-black form stomped up the creaking, wooden stairway.

"Where's Hinata?" Naruto panted. With Warashi's guidance, Naruto had gotten rid of the spirit barrier that had encased the Hyuuga estate like a bubble. Warashi knew the instructions for some unsealing, but he could never perform them himself due his lack of a body. The ghost was already floating beside him now, whispering directions in Naruto's ear.

Hiashi and Neji stared. "My daughter," Hiashi grunted, not even wanting to know how Naruto had slipped into their mansion so easily, "is occupied at the moment."

Naruto's blue eyes did not even wander when the father of his girlfriend glared at him. "She's in trouble, isn't she?" Naruto bluntly asked.

Hiashi's face stiffened. He nodded at Neji to leave.

Soon, it was just the two of them: the father and the teenage boyfriend.

Naruto gulped as he saw Hiashi turn his Byakugan on him. He knew perfectly well it was a security measure to confirm that he was, indeed, Uzumaki Naruto (and perhaps check if the seal on his stomach was still intact), but it was still intimidating. Naruto was determined not to cower like a pup and slink away.

"What makes you think my daughter is in danger?" Hiashi asked.

"I never asked whether she was in danger," Naruto said calmly. "I only asked if she was in _trouble._" He had to keep himself from snickering — he won in a battle of wits against Hyuuga Hiashi, of all people! — but that urge to laugh was immediately drowned out by the deadly stare Hiashi gave him. "Um, so where is she?"

Hiashi swept into the hallway that lead to Hinata's room. "I suggest you leave quietly. Neji is already calling for the Hokage."

"How about a future Hokage?" Naruto asked.

Hiashi turned around. "Modesty is not your best trait, I see."

'Same goes for you, old stiff,' Naruto privately remarked. "I only want to protect Hinata-chan," he stated aloud.

Hiashi's face remained impassive.

Okay, Tsunade's advice on how to negotiate, phase two. Swallowing his pride for just a moment, Naruto took an awkward bow. "Please let me help in anyway possible."

Naruto heard the flapping of cloth. His head jerked up, cerulean eyes wide. The shinobi jumped a meter back before Hiashi thrust a deadly Jyuuken move through his chest.

Hiashi lowered his arms, and relaxed his stance. "Excellent speed," he complimented. "You keep your guard on, yet hold a calm demeanor." He walked towards the Naruto, and then past him. Even though the boy passed the test for reflexes, Hiashi had been only going half his maximum speed in that move. "Still, I doubt you could help in this situation," Hiashi said. "It is sealing of an unusual type, which most shinobi are not trained to handle."

"I'm learning sealing!" Naruto exclaimed. "Jiraiya made me memorize the basics, and now I'm trying to advance into kidou!"

Hiashi frowned.

* * *

Sasuke carefully made his way to the opening into the street. He noticed more people walking out of their homes, garbed in thick kimonos. Damn, why did it seem like this New Year's celebration lasted particularly long? For him, it felt like it was going weeks on end. There was nothing much to celebrate, at least from Sasuke's perspective.

Sasuke strode over the dirt-paved streets, carefully turning his Sharingan on and off at every corner of the way. Walking with his bloodline limit constantly on would be suspicious, not to mention downright scary for the noncombatant citizens walking around.

Sasuke exhaled, half-nervous. Would translucent, rubbery demons just show up in the middle of the street?

"Hey, look at that giant bunny!" a small child piped up.

Sasuke froze. He looked to the side, and saw a light-blue, jelly rabbit. Measured to the top of its head, it was as tall as Naruto.

"That's some animal," one passerby murmured. "How long do you think it took to set?"

"OUT OF THE WAY!" Sasuke's voice shouted.

* * *

Naruto stared at the ripped work before him. It looked like Hiashi had already tried blasting ki through the sealed shouji-door. The seal survived. The paper didn't.

There were already a few Hyuuga collected around the area. Naruto knew perfectly well what they were suspecting: that _he_ had trapped Hinata and Hanabi in there, and was just here to demonstrate how great a shinobi he really was. Why else could there be an abnormal amount of chakra in that room (never mind that the room's chakra was a dark blue, and the two types which Naruto possessed was either a sky-blue or a tangerine-red), and Naruto just _happened_ to know that she was in trouble?

"Now remember, _Boy,_" Hiashi said quietly, standing behind Naruto, "if one or both my daughters come to harm in any way as a result of this, _I will kill you_ here without hesitation."

Naruto gave a wry smile. "If that happens, then I will gladly accept death."

The faces of the watching Hyuuga were unmoved, as if they inwardly scoffed, 'Nice save, you brat.'

Hiashi activated his Byakugan. His white irises focused on the chakra pattern around the door to Hinata's room. "The chakra pattern is hexagonal."

'That means it's like a rug woven with the threads running three ways,' Warashi mumbled next to Naruto, inaudible to the standing Hyuuga. 'Use all five fingers plus a finger from the other hand. Or three middle fingers from each hand. Or... argh! It doesn't matter! Just six total fingers; it's a hexagon!'

Naruto nodded in response, both for the Hyuuga patriarch and the poltergeist. "Which direction is the chakra flowing?" he asked.

"Counterclockwise."

"Where is the weakest area?"

Hiashi guided his finger to one area. "Here," he answered. "This hole."

From its width in the paper, Naruto guessed that Hiashi had struck it repeatedly with his Jyuuken moves. 'Ask him what position the hexagon is,' Warashi telepathically told Naruto. 'As in, is the shape sitting or standing. You'll need your fingers to align with the corners.'

Naruto swallowed. "When you say hexagon," he continued, "is it lying on a flat side, or standing on a point?"

"It stands on a point," Hiashi answered.

Naruto readied his hands, deciding to use his right hand and his left index finger. "Okay."

Warashi floated so that he was right within the confines of Naruto's outstretched arms. 'Repeat the hand-seals I do.'

There was a pause. Naruto held still as he slowly watched the ghost perform and recite them.

"...Well?" Hiashi asked.

Naruto's hands snapped through a set of five In. His right hand curled in a fist, which glowed an easy blue. Naruto's left index finger jabbed in the palm. The aura dispersed, resulting in six fingertips evenly glowing with blue flames, like ethereal candles.

Naruto curled his hands, and surrounded the large puncture in the shouji wall with the six chakra flames. They jolted as he set them over the surface.

* * *

Hanabi's eyes glared like white dwarf stars: only a hint of her former self, yet holding a cold intensity.

The little girl mimicked Hinata." 'What are you doing to Hanabi?' " She gave a dry laugh. "I _am_ Hanabi."

Hinata slowly pulled herself up, using the wall as a support. "Hanabi, please tell me what's wrong." It was barely a whisper, but there was still a hint of the authoritative voice of the Priestess. "You're not in your right mind."

"I'M not in my right mind?" Hanabi's face took on a tearful rage. "You're the one who's not in her right mind! You're taking up missions at an insane rate. You go off doing errands which aren't even missions. And when you have free time, you spend it all on that dumb blond!"

"Hanabi, I spend time with you!" Hinata answered. "I _want_ to spend time with you; that's why I requested that we share a bigger room together!"

"You only use it to _sleep_!" Hanabi retorted. "I want to share and read scrolls with you, and help you with your work, but you just ignore me! I even found something that might help in your special duties as Priestess of Souls!"

Hinata's pale eyes widened at this. "Who... who told you that?"

The aura of fury around Hanabi suddenly died down. She had caught the misting of her older sister's eyes.

The eleven-year-old covered her mouth with her hand, as if in horror of what she had just said. "I... I don't know," she finally mumbled. In all her recollection, Hanabi couldn't recall how she came to knowledge of that title: the Priestess of Souls. Much less how it connected with her older sister. "I don't remember how I learned that."

Hinata loosened herself from the wall, trying to somehow walk towards her little sister. Hanabi was coming to her senses, even though she was struggling with it.

"Onee-sama, get away," Hanabi whispered. "Something's... wrong with me..." She sank downward, the futon cushioning her knees.

Hinata's feet dragged over the tatami. It was heavy to walk "It's okay, Hanabi," said the Priestess. "I've known for a while about the genjutsu. Neither of us had ever walked out of this room since coming home from the midnight bell-ringing. We never went out into the hallway; that's why none of our relatives showed up, and why that the candle didn't drop when I ran into you so suddenly."

Hinata straightened her index and middle finger, forming them into a rigid structure. She then thrust it into the crevice on her own arm. It was a minimal amount of chakra, but it did the job. With good memory of the arms' anatomy, Hinata had managed to close one tenketsu without actually using her Byakugan to see it. The pain of the thrust cleared her vision.

The illusion disappeared. Hanabi and Hinata were still in their dark room. The younger one was now curled up into a tight ball, shaking on the futon. A cloud of dark miasma settled over Hanabi's head.

The Priestess watched in horror as the black cloud drenched Hanabi's ebony hair, and then swirled into her small skull.

Hinata screamed it out. "Get away from Hanabi!" She refused absolutely to say 'Get_ out_ of Hanabi'; Hinata by no means would acknowledge, at least verbally, that a foreign spirit was controlling her sister's mind.

The blue-haired kunoichi willed her legs to move. She didn't have enough strength. There was a blur before her eyes. Hanabi, or rather the possessed Hanabi, appeared and threw a glowing palm at her chest. Hinata used all her might into her legs to twist away. The attack hit her arm instead. A foot hooked around Hinata's shin, and she fell.

Something dense and hard struck Hinata's head. Her face fell flat onto the tatami floor. Scrolls spilled from the wooden basket at Hanabi's bedside — one scroll went past Hinata's eyes, and unrolled a bit. -Ancient Divination-

Hinata, her arms numb and legs without strength, read the first foot of the scroll. It had divination on it — not the 'divination' attacks that were now known commonly as the Jyuuken, but old spells that might be used on nonhuman entities. Hinata did not even remember when Hanabi had brought them in.

Hinata watched as Hanabi's darkening form advanced towards her. 'I was so blind, even before I lost my Sight...'

"I'm sorry, Hanabi, for not telling you," Hinata managed to whisper. "I only thought you wanted to be independent of me in training. You were the stronger one, after all."

The Priestess closed her eyes, waiting for the final blow. Something flickered in Hanabi's eyes.

Hanabi suddenly clutched her head, as if unbearable noise jolted her ears. She collapsed to the ground. "Onee... sama..."

Hinata's eyes sparked open. Hanabi was still fighting it! The chakra lining the room began to waver, as if the lighting was defective. Hinata pulled herself onto her quaking knees.

A hideous shadow with thin, red eyes, burst out screaming from Hanabi's head. The little girl fell to the ground, pale and half-conscious. Hinata grit her teeth at the incoming cloud.

There was a loud crash, with the ripping of paper and cracking of wood.

A ray of light flooded the room. Hinata felt the rush of cold, fresh air — contact with the outside, and its spiritual force. The Yasanagi no Magatama around her neck began to warm in response, absorbing the energy and mixing together more healing ki. The jewelry sensed that Hinata was drained, and immediately tapped into her body.

Hinata threw her palms forward towards the miasma. The shadow threw itself over her, enveloping her body like a blanket.

* * *

"Good gods, he actually..." The Branch member of the Hyuuga could not finish his sentence.

Immediately after the unsealing, Naruto expressed that time was of the utmost importance — by punching an even larger hole into the shouji-door, and physically pulling it out of the sliding crevices. The partial sunlight rushed into the room. "HINATA!" he shouted.

Naruto was welcomed by a burst of white light. It blinded his eyes, brighter than the morning sun behind him. The standing Hyuuga even needed to blink.

The white light died out almost a split-second later. The two daughters of the Main House, old scrolls, and futon mattresses were strewn around the area.

Having just blasted the strange shadow away, Hinata sat upright. Naruto's voice calling her name had given her a rush of joyful energy — but it stiffened when she saw that five of her relatives were standing outside, including her father. Being the lady she was, she folded her legs underneath herself, turned towards Hiashi, and bowed to the ground. Which, as she thought about as her nose was between her kneecaps, was probably still awkward because the room she sat in was in complete dishevel.

Hinata slowly drew herself up. "Otou-sama, I—"

Naruto tackled her onto the floor in a hug. "Hina-chan!" Naruto laughed when he heard an adorable squeak come from her. "You're alright! You had us so worried, I thought—"

The blond shinobi was interrupted by a loud cough. He looked up, and saw they had an audience of five Hyuuga, including Hinata's own father. Naruto was cuddling against a pajama-clad Hinata, on the floor of her bedroom. Like being struck by stage fright, he couldn't move.

For the first time, Hinata scolded her boyfriend. "Naruto-kun! We need to look at Hanabi!"

"Oh. Yeah." Naruto pulled away, his face as red as a tomato. Several of the Hyuuga ran into the room to help Hanabi. The girl seemed pale as ice, and as cold. Hiashi grabbed Naruto and Hinata, and pulled them to the side.

"Otou-sama, Hanabi needs—"

"Hanabi is already being taken care of," Hiashi answered in a curt voice. "Now tell me how that force-field came into your room."

* * *

Notes:

"tora" - 'tiger'.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	30. Chase

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Sorry for the late update — again. The academic year has started once more, and I'm making it my goal to not procrastinate on my homework. After the first week, everything seems okay. This fanfiction slows down as a result, though. (And to think that swimming comes in October...)

I'm beginning to fear this story more and more. Not only is it bizarre, ridiculous, and sappy in ways that is so uncharacteristic of my usual nature, but I've realized how hard it is to actually write romance in a believable way. Especially with the pairings of this story — naruhina is the cutest, but it's really easy to fall into writing only fluff about them, because Naruto is a fun doofus and Hinata is so sweet and agreeable. Then there's the other extreme... the sasusaku pairing... which is almost impossible to write without ruining their individual characters.

I'm getting antsy to writing the next arch, though.

Bryr: yup, Ino's father is Inoshi, which could mean 'child of the boar'... but don't rely on me because the personal names in the Naruto series are all written in katakana. Only kanji and an adequate base of vocabulary can help in these things.

Cloud and Ame Emi Dai: I loved reading your comments. (How can you find time to write so much for little me?) And thank you for pointing out that typo — I am sort of obsessed with accurate writing (at least correct English grammar), so I am always grateful for readers who notice and say something.

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 30: Chase

* * *

Hiashi stared at his daughter, and the blond shinobi standing protectively next to her. "Well?" he demanded. "The force-field."

Hinata mumbled something inarticulate. Her hand tightened on Naruto's sleeve.

Hiashi's brow furrowed. "Speak up."

Hinata swallowed. She had just said 'an evil spirit' in a very quiet tone of voice. She realized how outrageous it would ring in her relatives' ears. They'd think she was loony. And if by a sliver of a chance that Hiashi believed her, they'd wonder about the state of his leadership. "The-there was—"

A firm, alto voice interrupted. "Hiashi." Tsunade stood barefoot in the smooth hallway, with the jounin Hyuuga Neji behind her. "Sorry I'm late." She gave a brief perceptive glance at Naruto. "But it seems like someone else did the unsealing for me before me."

Hiashi gave a curt nod in her direction as Tsunade stepped towards him. "Godaime-sama," he addressed her respectfully.

Tsunade passed Hiashi, and walked towards Hinata and Naruto who stood in the room. She reached up, and placed her thumb and index finger on Naruto's forehead. She released a flick.

"Dah!" Naruto flew backwards, his body slamming and then imbedding into the torn door.

"That's for doing that dangerous level of unsealing," Tsunade said, her face slightly twisted in a grumpy attitude. "Hiashi, I want to speak with you. Hinata and Naruto should stay."

Hiashi's mouth closed shut. He turned to the other Hyuuga members, and nodded a dismissal. They dispersed out of the hallway, their swift movements almost flying past the Hokage.

Tsunade put a hand over Hanabi's forehead. A warm, emerald glow emitted from her palm. Hinata worriedly glanced back and forth from her sister to her boyfriend. Tsunade smiled at her. "Hanabi just has some chakra depletion." She removed her fingers as the green light faded. "Naruto!" Tsunade called. "I want you to clean up this room while I talk to Hyuuga."

The blond chuunin mumbled why he had to take the brunt of her strikes, before pulling himself out of the papered remains of the shouji-door. He carefully dragged its frame to the side, and set it against the wall.

Hanabi roused from her unconscious state, shrieking. "GET AWAY!"

The eleven-year-old then realized that she had an audience. Hiashi, Hinata, and Naruto watched her intently. The whole room was disheveled, from upturned futons to a destroyed shouji-door. And the doctor overseeing her... was the Hokage. Hanabi quickly scooted away. She was not familiar of Tsunade's disposition, so the little girl was rather nervous being in close proximity to the Godaime. She also had screamed like a terrified commoner.

Hiashi, meanwhile, had his eyes glued upon his firstborn. "Hinata, you still haven't answered the question."

"Don't punish Hanabi, Otou-sama!" Hinata burst out. "She had nothing to do with—" Hinata choked when she realized her error. She should never have mentioned her younger sister's name. Now it was almost insured that Hanabi would be punished.

"Hanabi?" Hiashi turned a bewildered face onto his second daughter.

Hanabi was now trembling under her father's gaze. Bits and pieces of this morning rushed into her, unwelcome and inescapable like a plague of insects. She had attacked her own sister. Even after Hinata apologized to her — for what reason, Hanabi did not remember.

"I told you, it was an evil spirit!" Hinata now exclaimed. She looked directly at her father, her brow creased with sincerity. "I don't know how it escaped my detection, but it somehow came into our room and sealed it off. I think it was absorbing chakra... I hadn't been able to use my Byakugan at all!"

Hiashi was not looking directly at her. He acted as if he were studying Naruto, who was on the other side of the room. "Spirit, you say?" Hiashi asked. His graying eyes turned hard as he turned back to Hinata. "What sort of—"

"Hiashi," Tsunade firmly interrupted. "Nobody will be punished." Her fingers traced the back of Hanabi's skull, and hit a pressure-point. Hanabi collapsed in her forearm. Tsunade let the girl gently back onto the bed. "Hinata, I know you wanted to hide it and protect your family. But I think you should now at least show your own father what you're wearing around your neck."

Hinata's lips tightened in nervousness. Well, it was the Hokage's orders now. Her fingers laced under the collar of her pajama top, and drew out a necklace. The spherical jewel let off a soft, iridescent glow in the dim morning light. The canine teeth surrounding the item held a dull shine, yet held an earthly beauty in their saber-like curves.

The Hokage drew herself up from the floor. "The Yasanagi no Magatama," Tsunade announced to Hiashi. "Your daughter is its protector and keeper."

* * *

A white dog with floppy ears jumped around in the morning air. Kiba yawned on the bench. "Hinata sure is late," he said, scratching under his armpit.

Shino chose not to comment — neither on the tardiness of one teammate, nor the crude gesture of the other. There was another blessing that Hinata bestowed on the group, besides possessing the Byakugan and medicinal knowledge: her presence made otherwise uncouth men behave themselves. Fewer swear words flew out, burps were suppressed (or at least contained), and certainly no scratching in odd places happened when she walked by. Shino never showed it, but he had been appalled when the Godaime had 'borrowed' Hinata off their team for a while to teach her advanced medicine-making. He had to take morning after morning like this, with Kiba going through canine maneuvers of the strangest sorts.

At least Kiba didn't scratch with his foot like a dog...

'Scratch that,' Shino thought, no pun intended, as he watched Kiba kick off a sandal, curl his left leg above his shoulder, and rub the scalp behind his ear with his toenails. It was amazing display of flexibility, especially for a guy, but it was still gross.

Shino's index finger gave a subtle push on the rib of his sunglasses. "Are not your hands sufficient for your... canine antics?"

Kiba's foot stopped. "This is an exercise to keep my Gatsuuga in shape," he retorted brashly, before continuing to scratch. At one point, he let off an immodest groan. "Aaah, that hits the spot..." Akamaru barked, and began to copy his master.

Shino was already on the other side of the road, as if not wanting to be seen together with Kiba. He was kneeling down with his head on the ground, his ear over the mat of frozen, yellow grass.

Kiba stared at Shino across the road. "What are you doing?" Kiba asked, his foot still behind an ear. "You look like a dork."

Shino pulled his head from the ground. "I was listening to how the hibernating larvae were faring."

Shino's eyes were hidden behind those small, circular frames of glasses, but Kiba could feel the ominous intensity coming from him. Shino had that sort of aura in his personality. It gave even Naruto the creeps. "I thought insects migrated..." Kiba trailed off.

"Not all of them." Without another word, the Aburame settled his ear back on the ground.

Kiba rolled his eyes when Shino wasn't looking. 'I hate being alone with this wierdo.' He put his left leg down, and then proceeded to do the same stretch-and-scratch move with the right leg.

A collection of snow danced through the air between the two chuunin. Akamaru stood up, barked, and wagged his tail. The white flakes compressed together in a womanly figure, and dispersed: Yuuhi Kurenai appeared in her usual red-and-white clothing.

"Is Hinata late?" Kurenai asked. "This is unlike her."

Kurenai looked at her subordinates: one was scratching himself like a mutt, and another was crouched with his ear on the ground. Efficient and forward-thinking as her team was, Kurenai could not deny that a certain level of weirdness existed in it. At least it was not embarrassing to the level of the Gai-Lee combination...

Shino drew himself up from the ground, and brushed away any crumbs of grass and dirt from his trousers. He lifted a hand to his face. A kikai perched on his fingernail. The insect buzzed a language only its kind and the Aburame clan understood.

"My kikai have reported a minor emergency," Shino said. "There are several... points... of growing chakra in the residence areas of the village." He did not want to say 'monster', even though using that word was a better translation of the relayed message.

The jounin stared. She turned to Kiba, who was now pulling his hood back over his head, and buckling the sandal back on its proper location. As much as she trusted Shino, she wanted a second opinion.

Kiba wrinkled his nose. Akamaru took on an aggressive stance as he growled towards the village. The wind was changing, and now the air was coming from the direction of Konoha. "It smells of a cross between rotten fruit and soap."

* * *

Naruto looked around in interest at Hinata's room. Aside from the demolished door and upturned futon blankets, it was simple and clean. A polished, cedar cabinet. The waist-high vanity mirror, with a lacquer box on its table top. Naruto set a carved, cylindrical wooden box back on its upright position, and placed the old scrolls inside, presuming that was where they belonged.

The blond shinobi kept on stealing glances at his girlfriend, wondering how the meeting was going. He sighed in frustration when Hinata pulled out the necklace before her father.

"Him, too?" Warashi asked, popping out of thin air. He turned to Naruto. "Are you guys really supposed to be ninja? Because you leave a messy trail."

Naruto's face creased into an annoyed expression. "The thing infiltrated the Hyuuga mansion. We didn't have time to be discreet." Seeing that he straightened everything he could, and resisting temptation to touch the beautiful lacquer box on the vanity stand, Naruto walked towards Hinata. She was now tucking the sheets around the sleeping Hanabi, while Tsunade and Hiashi were having a one-on-one discussion.

Naruto watched Hinata while she was still kneeling at her sister's bedside. The young man found himself staring at her neck, its white hue and swan-like shape...

"Naruto-kun?"

The blond snapped out of his daze. "Hey," Naruto greeted lamely. "Um... How's your dad taking it?"

Hinata's face told partial relief. "Better than I had expected." From what she picked up from the conversation in the hall, her father was making very few comments during Tsunade's conversation with him — he was probably still trying to digest this new information. Hinata raised her hand to Naruto's blond hair. "Does it hurt anywhere?" she asked, concerned whether Tsunade's blow had given him anything serious.

Naruto sweated inwardly. While Hinata 'tended' to him, her fingers playing around his ears, and the Magatama shining on her perfect throat, Hiashi's menacing form was behind Hinata. A white flower in the midst of a storm. Even though Hiashi's face was turned and focused on the Godaime, Naruto could bet that the patriarch was shooting him an occasional glare from the corner of his eye.

Zashiki Warashi floated from Naruto's shoulder, and descended before Hinata. "How's your Sight, Hinata-neechan?"

Hinata barely batted an eye at his appearance. "Warashi-chan. Your head is near the hanging lamp... right?"

Warashi sighed. "That's about right." It appeared that Hinata's Sight was not getting any better.

Naruto turned his face on Hanabi's sleeping form. He turned contemplative for a brief moment. "Hinata-chan," the blond picked up, "do girls wear jewelry while they're asleep?"

Hinata paused. "Normally, no," she answered. "It's uncomfortable, and sometimes dangerous. I wear the Magatama only because it's so important. I actually have to fold some cloth over the fangs..."

"Yeah, Hinata-neechan moves in her sleep," Warashi said, hanging upside down in the air. He suddenly curled up in a strange position, as if he were embracing something. "She hugs her pillow with her arms and legs, rolls around, and moans out in her sleep 'Naruto-kuuuu—' "

"She does?" Naruto's voice was full of hope, if not excitement. Hinata, on the other hand, was so mortified that she couldn't even find her voice to say anything. Did she really talk in her sleep about her boyfriend? No wonder Hanabi was so jealous...

"Naw, I was lying," Warashi said, leaving Naruto's fantasies hanging on a cliff. "Hinata-neechan sleeps like a baby." The child ghost gave Naruto a teasing grin. "Naruto-niichan, you pervert."

Naruto slumped. 'You're the pervert if you think up of something like that,' he grumbled inside. All right, there had been enough distracting talk. "Okay... so wouldn't those things poke Hanabi's eyes out?"

Hinata blinked. "What things?"

Naruto sighed. He pulled away a few sticky strands of black hair obscuring Hanabi's face.

Hinata sharply inhaled at the sight of the jeweled hairpins. "What was she _thinking_?" She quickly reached over to draw out the metal sticks from her sister's hair — but her hand was stopped.

"Hina-chan," said Naruto, his fingers tightly around Hinata's wrist. "Do you feel like... the air's kind of stuffy?"

Hinata blinked. She felt just fine. Morning air tasted especially wonderful after being trapped in a force-field with a possessed, angry sibling. But now that she had gotten used to it, she recognized that there still was a heaviness surrounding them. The door was burst open, and yet...

Without hesitation, Naruto drew out the jewels from Hanabi's hair. Hinata was surprised at his boldness. She almost felt envy at the gesture, until she realized that Naruto wasn't too delicate in the matters of pulling out hair accessories. The sleeping Hanabi rolled over with her eyes crunching tight. Naruto was not focusing on Hanabi's comfort: it was the pins themselves.

Naruto placed the items on the tatami before him, and flicked his hands into several seals. Halfway through the sequence, Naruto carefully picked them up between his index fingers.

Hinata was alarmed. It looked like Naruto was going to do a jutsu of some sort on her sister's only jewelry. "What are you doing, Naruto-kun?"

"Just checking for something." Naruto's hands curled into the final In. "Raiton..."

At the term 'lightning-style', Warashi put up a halting hand. "Wait, Naruto-niichan, I think—"

There was a zap, and Naruto let off a yelp. He threw the jeweled pins upward as if they had scalded him. Hinata lifted a fist over her mouth.

Tsunade and Hiashi turned their faces to Naruto. "What's the matter?" the Godaime asked sharply.

"Nothing!" Naruto chimed from the other end of the room. The ninja gingerly picked up the accessories from the ground, his face burning with embarrassment. He had just committed one of the stupidest mistakes one could possibly make while performing a lightning-style technique: holding a piece of metal. Any conducting objects near his hands would immediately act as a lightning rod, burning any flesh in contact. Naruto caught the look on Warashi's face. "I know. That was really dumb."

Warashi lay on his back in mid-air, drawing circles. "Uh-huh..." He noticed a small line of smoke coming from one of the pins, and dispersing. 'That looked like a youkai-egg just got destroyed,' Warashi noted. He then looked at Naruto, who was waving his hand through the air in hope to relieve the tiny burns. 'But Naruto-niichan probably didn't notice it in that moment of getting zapped.'

Hinata could not help but smile a bit as walked over to the tall cabinet. Her boyfriend was often an idiot, but he was cute that way. Besides, Naruto's intelligent side always sprung to life when he most needed it, just like when Hatake Kakashi would lose his easy-going philosophy when things turned serious. It was the best thing a ninja could have: a personality to enjoy life when it was meant to be enjoyed.

"Well, don't do that again," Warashi said with a sigh. His nose twitched. "It still feels funky here." He was sure that Naruto's electricity stunt destroyed some form of ill, but it was still not completely clean around the room.

Naruto felt Hinata's hand slip over his, already massaging the cooling gel around his burnt fingers. She didn't really need to do that, since Kyuubi could heal anything in a jiffy. But her gentle touch on his hand was nice. The chemicals in the medicine also relieved some of the physical pain, and sped up the already-quick healing process.

"Sorry for zapping your hairpins, Hinata-chan." The jeweled accessories were still intact. Naruto had been worried that they might fall apart or something after receiving a small electric shock, but they looked well-crafted to stand anything.

"Those aren't mine. They're Hanabi's," said Hinata. "I just have an identical pair."

Naruto and Warashi stilled. "Then... where are yours?" Naruto asked.

Hinata felt a little nervous at Naruto's change in mood. "In the red lacquer box on the dresser..." She felt his hand slip away from hers.

Naruto walked over, and sat down to the vanity mirror. A brush of cool air met his fingers as he neared the lacquer box. Within his mind, he heard Kyuubi snort in discomfort.

Naruto opened the red container, and began digging out its contents. Hinata was surprised at this disruption of her private belongings. "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto's blue eyes were glued onto the container. "I'm sorry for going through your stuff, Hina-chan. But I don't want you touching them." His fingers brushed one small bundle of scrap cloth. It felt like his hand was dunked into a bucket full of ice water. Naruto lifted the small bundle from the box. His finger pinched over a corner of the scrap cloth, and allowed the whole bundle to unwind itself with gravity.

Recognizing Hinata's confused look, Warashi remembered that he hadn't told her yet of this morning's events. "The omamori weren't haywire because of a curse on the village, actually," he said. "Eggs of youkai were planted on various pieces of jewelry, and fed off the emotions of the people who were wearing them."

A look of horror crossed Hinata. "You mean, the pins were the reason that..."

Naruto tossed a hairpin up. He quickly went through the hand-seals, and cast the electric jutsu — while it was still in the air. It was only a brief second, but Naruto was sure that one yellow spark was enough.

There was a tiny blitz from his fingers. The pin dropped to the ground, unchanged. The two teenagers and the ghost stared at it.

"Damn." Naruto picked up the kosher accessory. "False alarm."

Hinata's face paled. Warashi shot a finger at Naruto, indicating something behind the blond ninja. "Look at the OTHER one!" Warashi shouted.

The blond's head darted back. A black, jagged shadow, with two crimson slashes for eyes, burst and expanded out of Hinata's second hairpin. Naruto suddenly felt that he couldn't move.

"Hakke!" a cold voice hissed.

Naruto felt sandwiched between two different auras. Hiashi appeared behind Naruto — his arm sent a concentrated blast of ki right past Naruto's ear, and into the shadow. The Jyuuken-thrust ripped apart the black miasma. The hazy monster screamed apart. The jeweled hairpin flew off, hit the floor, and swirled to a stop on the tatami.

Hinata blinked. She felt something peel away from her eyes.

Hyuuga Hiashi pulled up from his Jyuuken stance, and gracefully straightened out his yukata. As for Naruto, multiple drops of cold sweat formed on his skin. 'Holy shit,' Naruto thought. 'He sees the Magatama just once, gets a report from Tsunade, and then exterminates a shade as if it were nothing...'

Hiashi turned to his daughter, who was now frozen in awe of her father's movements. "As a Konoha chuunin, you will do as you see necessary, and within the bounds Tsunade gives you." Hiashi noticed that Hinata's eyes were glowing white, even though her cheeks were as smooth as ever. Somehow, he was not surprised. "Do not utter a word of your... other duties. To anyone."

Hinata made a short bow to the floor as he left. Her father was as stern as ever. But she was happy: he gave her his blessing to be a Priestess. And...

"Warashi-chan." Hinata sat up, and looked up to the poltergeist. "I think my Sight is back."

* * *

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Sasuke shouted.

There was a high-pitched, screeching noise. It stopped with a wet splat. Sasuke had struck a Chidori into the giant rabbit. Around his left arm, the gelled mass melted away into a thin liquid.

"Sasuke-kun, how COULD YOU?"

The cry had come from a certain young shinobi dressed proudly in a green suit and sporting a bowl-cut. The Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha — the Second.

Rock Lee had torrents of tears coming from his impossibly cartoon-like eyes. "That was my New Year's display!" he exclaimed.

Sasuke's eyebrow gave a brief twitch at what his left hand was in. It was sticky, sugary, and blue. What he had interpreted as an incomplete youkai, appeared to be a gelatin dessert. He withdrew his arm, the jelly sloshing out.

Sasuke turned to Lee with the most even look he could muster. "Are you conspiring against me?" Sasuke asked in a low tone. He turned away, doing his best to look cool while have liquid gelatin soaking his left sleeve. "Freak."

Instead of continuing to cry like the sensitive man he was, Lee's face turned stone-like. Something akin to fury appeared to simmer in his normally sweet and goofy eyes. "I may be a freak, Sasuke-kun," his voice wavered, "but if you were a true ninja, you would have realized a long time ago if anybody were conspiring against you."

Sasuke turned around slowly. It was not normal for Lee to have that harsh tone of voice: was he possessed as well? Sasuke converted his eyes into the Sharingan mode, and observed the taijutsu-specialist.

Fortunately, there were no abnormal chakra levels — Lee couldn't use chakra except for opening the celestial gates anyway. The green-clad shinobi was completely sound of mind and body. Unfortunately, when Lee saw Sasuke's activated Sharingan, he interpreted it as a challenge. And after grieving over Sakura's apparent suicide three months ago, and witnessing Sasuke's unwavering expression after the fact, Lee truly wanted to kick the Uchiha where it hurt.

"And at least _I_ was a considerate friend when it came to Sakura-san."

Sasuke's eyes were still red as he looked back. Some voice in his head was telling him that he was falling into an easy trap. But the avenger did not listen.

The Uchiha made the first move. He appeared in front of Lee and threw fist at his face. Sasuke did not even contemplate to use magic-laden attacks of ninjutsu or genjutsu, somehow feeling that he wanted to beat the martial artist with his bare fists.

The people in the street backed away. About half scattered off in fear of their lives. The other half stayed to watch, albeit from a good distance.

Lee hit Sasuke's arm sideways, deflecting the punch. His strong leg flung out a Konoha Senpuu — the Leaf Windmill. Sasuke guarded himself, trying to ignore that the kick on his upper-arm almost knocked the wind straight out of his chest. Knowing that he required more speed, Sasuke instilled chakra into his legs. His form blurred. He appeared underneath Lee, and sent up a rising dragon kick.

The kick hit. But it was not Lee whom Sasuke struck. A large, enormous hand held Sasuke's foot, and then threw it down. Sasuke dropped to the ground quietly, his knee to the sandy street. He cautiously stood up at the tall figure.

Gai's teeth flashed. "If you want a taijutsu test, Youth, you will not destroy my adorable pupil's float to provoke him!" the jounin's voice boomed. "As punishment, you will have to evade five-hundred of my strikes!"

Lee seemed actually embarrassed that his beloved teacher had intervened. This was not a training spar between Lee and Sasuke; it was a real, man-to-man duel! "Gai-sensei, wait—"

Sasuke was equally as stunned. He didn't even have time to protest as he bent, twisted and turned from the flurry of punches Gai sent him. 'Why me?' he mentally asked. Reason conveniently sent a blunt, scathing answer: 'Because, a) you lost your concentration, and b) Gai is an idiot. Blame it more on the first option, since that is the only one that you have control over.'

"First hundred, pass!" Gai shouted after twenty seconds, his arms blurring still. He knew perfectly well that his own precious Lee had snapped, falling so low as to express verbal insults — that was one reason he jumped in. And Sasuke was going through a hard time himself, although this morning he seemed unusually edgy. Gai's duty as a jounin-instructor was to keep the two from physically tearing each other apart.

Plus, there was the bonus that Gai could test how the student of his 'eternal rival' was progressing.

"Two hundred!" Gai shouted after twenty more seconds.

Sasuke was barely evading each blow. Even with his Sharingan activated, his head was almost spinning with every move Gai performed. It seemed that this insane jounin could compress five punches within one damn second! That was not even humanly possible, was it?

Gai decided to push it further. "You're keeping up well, Youth," he said. "Did I ever mention that my taijutsu made your brother decide to retreat—"

Sasuke's red eyes opened wide in shock. Before he could think any further, he felt a fist land in his chest. That hurt... but it was nothing compared to the shattering of wood that erupted around his back the next second. The last thing he saw was a shower of chopsticks.

Gai looked at the sight of the Uchiha lying amidst the rubble of a distant food stand. "He made it half-way." He crossed his arms across a puffed-out chest. "Kakashi, you will be happy to know that the Flame of Youth burns bright, even in your coldest student! BA HA HA!"

Lee blinked. "Um, Gai-sensei..." The sight of Sasuke had rid him of any rage towards his angst-obsessed junior. "I think Sasuke-kun's unconscious."

* * *

The soft, irregular chimes of bells rang as a shop door opened and closed. A woman with dark, wavy hair stepped into the jewelry shop.

Yuuhi Kurenai glanced around at the display of jewelry and crystal figurines. The jounin's makeup made her face glow, with red lipstick and purple eye shadow. "Kurenai" meant 'crimson', after all, so she thought it was only natural that she emphasized her looks in the facial department.

"Kurenai!"

Kurenai looked up to see her dark-skinned cousin walking towards her. "Happy New Year, Hatsue," the jounin greeted.

Hatsue embraced Kurenai. "I haven't seen you for — ages!" She drew back, examining her cousin. "And you still wear that half-kimono with white strips," she said, half-exasperated. "I must say... although I thought it was attractive and unique when you sewed it, it turns strange if you wear only one thing all the time."

Kurenai's red lips made a relaxed smile. "These are my work clothes. As long as it still can be mended, a ninja doesn't have time to look for a new wardrobe." Her arms released Hatsue. She trailed her red eyes around the wonder of jewels, velvet and crystal figurines of the small store. Her cousin's shop was a warm, tiny sanctuary in the middle of the dullness of winter. "I'm sorry for not coming over," Kurenai apologized. "I even missed the fall quarterly inspection of your store."

"Window-shopping," Hatsue corrected her.

"Right. Window-shopping." Kurenai continued examining the jewels with an even face. These inspections were actually a safety precaution Kurenai took upon to check that the items Hatsue bought from outside Konoha were not dangerous (or at least free of any possible jutsu). The manager knew that her precious store would be safe, if a jounin like Kurenai checked the imported merchandise and security systems. But Hatsue always talked to her during an inspection as if it were some family gathering. Which it was, in a certain sense.

At one point, Kurenai stopped. She folded her hands into an In. She shut her red eyes, and concentrated. 'Kai!' Chakra rippled through her body and over her skin, dispelling any illusion that may have been affecting her senses. It had happened before, that a ring or two looked much better than it actually was.

Her eyes cracked open. Everything was the same. Kurenai saw nothing wrong.

Once the jounin put her arms down, Hatsue knew she could begin speaking again. "So, Kurenai... how is the state of the village?"

"Guarded," the genjutsu-specialist answered calmly. She examined a necklace behind a glass case. A small bug crawled over the smooth surface.

Hatsue screamed with her lips shut. She pulled out a set of tweezers from her breast pocket, usually reserved to examine the quality of individual gems. Hatsue neared the instrument towards the creature that somehow had wheedled into her immaculate store. "TICK!"

Kurenai held back her cousin's wrist. "Not a tick," said the dark-haired jounin. "It's a kikai of the Aburame clan. Aburame Shino is one of my subordinates, and he ordered it to assist me." She freed Hatsue's wrist, and watched the bug crawl into the glass case and near the necklace "They're very clean, actually, since their principle diet is chakra."

Kurenai refrained from mentioning that kikai lived inside the bodies of the Aburame clan. The jounin herself had no idea how the physiology worked, so it was better not to say anything.

Hatsue, meanwhile, almost bit her polished nails as the kikai stepped over the jewels with its tiny feet. "Oh, that was part of a nature-themed collection that I knew would appeal to Konoha!" Again, Kurenai noticed, Hatsue's business instincts were taking over. "The flower and leaf patterns, the teardrop and dewdrop cuts..."

With her cousin wailing in the background, Kurenai focused on the insect. It stilled at one cluster. It wasn't the biggest jewel on the necklace, but Kurenai could tell that it was somehow important by the way the bug flitted its tiny wings, on and off, at every two seconds. Her red eyes narrowed. "Hatsue, could you open this case?"

Relief flooded Hatsue. Even though she knew Kurenai would never buy such a flashy necklace, Hatsue wanted that insect's grubby legs off her precious merchandise. The shopkeeper pulled out her keys, and undid the lock. The glass door opened smoothly.

Kurenai's red eyes turned wide as the kikai, instead of flying out as she had expected to, rolled on its back on the velvet padding. One of its legs weakly twitched, as if it were dying.

The genjutsu-specialist carefully lifted up her hand towards the glass. She felt a cold breath of air, as if all the warmth in her body were sucked out of her. Hatsue's form wavered in her eyes.

Hatsue looked at her in concern. "Kurenai?"

* * *

Sasuke bit down a groan of pain.

"You sent a Chidori through a New Year's float?" asked Tsunade in disbelief.

Sasuke tilted his bandaged head back on the pillow. "It was a mistake."

Naruto scratched the bottom of his chin. "A rabbit made of jello. Yeah, I guess I can see you mistaking that it's a half-developed demon..." Naruto's serious face collapsed as the chuckles escaped his mouth. He put a thumb to his forehead, his eyes creasing into fox-like slits. "You must have been _paranoid_, man!"

"Shut up." Sasuke lay still as Tsunade checked his level of chakra. A few bandages wrapped his head: because of flying backwards into a wooden stand after Gai's punch, Sasuke had taken something of a small concussion.

Sasuke still couldn't understand the odds of coming across a gelatin dessert in the shape of a rabbit, much less at the same time during a possible youkai-raid. It was ridiculously small, but it happened. What an embarrassing coincidence.

"You know, Lee put in a lot of work on that float," Tsunade scolded with a low, calm voice. "He had initially wanted to make a green squirrel... but I had persuaded him to go along with theme of the Rabbit Year."

Sasuke huffed. "Right." The raven-haired shinobi was now sort of glad that he destroyed the hideous creation by mistake, even though he had to take a concussion in exchange. That blue rabbit, although clean of any youkai-eggs, had been as tasteless as Tora's diamond collar. He didn't even want to think of how Lee obtained a MOLD for it. And it could have been worse... a green squirrel...

Tsunade's green overcoat whipped around as she turned out of the room. "Stay a little longer in that bed, Sasuke," she said in a warning voice, as if he were a disobedient child. "Even though the worst is over, and you can recover within a day or two, concussions make you dizzy as hell."

Naruto leaned back in his chair. "What a New Year's Day," he sighed. "Running through the whole town after meeting the Hyuuga family..." He threw down his red-and-gold omamori to the floor in frustration. "Damn it, there are dormant eggs still around, and we can't even find them until they hatch!" Naruto huffed. "And it's still only noon!"

Sasuke pulled his fingers through his raven hair. He was in agitation, although he controlled and hid it well. From how things were in the present state, the only thing they could do, would be to wait out until the next youkai-egg burst.

Sasuke turned to his rival. "She's safe in her house, right?" he asked, referring back to Hinata.

Naruto gave a small nod. "Yeah. Hinata needs to rest a bit after that fight. Hiashi actually ordered some Hyuuga to have their Jyuuken ready when walking around Konoha." After a stretch on the chair, Naruto got up. "Well, I'd better get going..." Just when Naruto's posture straightened, his blue eyes froze. He hooked a hand over his wrist, where the talisman was. "Oh, crap... Sorry, Sasuke, but you'll have to sit this one out!" The blond shinobi raced out into the hall.

Sasuke glanced at his bedside. On the small table was his blue-and-silver omamori. All the silver stitches weakly pulsed — but when Sasuke squinted his eyes, he noticed that one spot was particularly bright compared to the rest. A youkai was beginning to grow somewhere.

Damn it, Naruto had left in order to fight it all by himself.

"Oh, and Sasuke," Tsunade added, her head popping around of the corner, "here's some material that Kakashi wanted you to read —"

The Hokage's voice halted. Her hazel eyes flashed at the sight of the vacant bed and open window.

The medic-nin turned away, her lips silently forming a string of curses. "That stubborn fool!" she hissed. "If he were my son, I'd have spanked him years ago!"

* * *

Notes:

"Kurenai" - means 'crimson'.

"Hatsue" - "hatsu" means 'beginning', and "e" is the same kanji as "kurenai", so it means 'early crimson'.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	31. First Blessing

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 31: First Blessing

* * *

Kurenai's eyes flashed at the necklace. She quickly backed away from the display. Pitch-black smoke spewed out from the jewels, filling up the glass box. Were Kurenai not mistaken, a face was molding itself in the smoke. A crack ran through. Hatsue stood frozen in bewilderment. Kurenai yanked her behind a column of the jewelry store.

The case exploded. A harsh splintering of glass rang out, and pieces slid by on the waxed floor. A few shards held a grayish tint before turning clear again.

Kurenai loosened her fists. She combed through her thoughts quickly, trying to make something of the situation. The shadow monster did not seem like an illusionary technique; the genjutsu-specialist confirmed this with every test she knew. Another thing the shade was good at was sucking chakra.

Kurenai put a finger to her lips, motioning to Hatsue to keep quiet.

The jounin knew she was at a disadvantage. Her usual strategy was to cast genjutsu, and then aim for the kill. This worked well with humans and animals. But a chakra-absorbing shadow was a whole different story, because Kurenai didn't even know if it _had_ any sensory organs to begin with.

Without warning, the two women found a silver-haired jounin crouching before them. "Yo, lovely ladies," Kakashi greeted.

Hatsue almost screamed at his sudden appearance, were it not for Kurenai clapping a hand over her cousin's mouth. "What are you doing here?" the genjutsu-specialist hissed at Kakashi.

"To help," he answered good-naturedly. "You know that smoke coming out of that case? Whenever it senses pure human emotion, it acts as a chakra-vacuum."

Kurenai raised a perfect eyebrow. That logic registered to her: Shino's kikai had been completely unaffected by the necklace, until Hatsue had advanced towards it. "So humans can't combat it?" she asked.

"Well, actually, humans can," Kakashi said. He stood up, and stepped out of the column's shadow. The sharp crumbs of glass crunched under his sandals. "It's simply a matter of attitude."

Kurenai bit her lower lip, smearing the crimson lipstick on her teeth. She wondered what Kakashi's strategy was.

The dark shade bubbled in agitation. As soon as it realized Kakashi was out in the open, the foggy cloud began to roll and tumble across the smooth floor like a landslide. The silver-haired man whipped something out from his vest. Kurenai's jaw dropped at what it was.

Kakashi flipped open the copy of Icha Icha Violence, and began to read. A grin broadened underneath his navy-blue mask.

Many thoughts raced through Kurenai's brain.

The miasma halted, as if confused.

In that moment of awkward stillness, Kurenai realized that there was an opening for an escape. She quickly shoved Hatsue towards the front door. She did not want her cousin to die from a monster of smoke, all because of Kakashi's bottomless appetite for smutty novels.

The dark cloud forgot Kakashi for a moment, and turned its coal-black slits for eyes back onto the two retreating women. The miasma rushed past several glass displays.

Just as Hatsue stumbled out of the shop, Kurenai's arm was engulfed in the scorching mass. Her red eyes widened.

Kakashi stiffened as he watched the thick cloud swallowed her up — but he looked back down. As he expected, Kurenai's form in the shade dissolved away, leaving only a burst of snow.

The true Kurenai appeared, crouching on top of the front desk. She made an incredulous face towards Kakashi, who was now giggling within his book. The unknown shade hovered between the two shinobi, and was now rushing towards her.

"KAKASHI!" she hissed. Using the Kawarimi no Jutsu, she switched her position at the last moment with a crystal vase. She landed right next to Kakashi. "What in the world are you—"

The sound of loud chirping drowned out her voice. The orange book already had disappeared, safe into its pocket.

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed in thick concentration. Lines of an electric blue leapt from the ground, assembling into a high-voltage cluster in his hand.

The shadow rushed towards the two jounin. Kakashi threw the brightness towards the miasma in a quick, drilling punch. 'Raikiri!' (Lightning Edge)

Each whip of electric chakra sliced apart the thick shadow. Its screams drowned out, intertwined with the last screeching of the Raikiri.

The blue lines flickered out from Kakashi's fingers. He lowered his hand, a few of his knuckles slightly burnt from the acidic miasma.

One pane of glass fell from the iron skeleton of the display case. It shattered on the floor, breaking the stillness.

Now Kurenai could find words. "What — that book —" she sputtered, "—what were you _thinking_?"

Kakashi glanced to the side. Recognizing her frozen state, he only chuckled sheepishly, and patted his choice of literature in its safe place. "You see, similar... monsters... had been spotted by Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke earlier. When I snuck into this store behind you," — Kurenai frowned at him — "and watched the kikai, I realized that that kind of being only reacted to emotions that it considered purely human. You were trying to protect Hatsue, after all."

Kurenai kept her thoughts inside. Was it just her, or did it sound like Kakashi's old Team 7 was hounding her only female student? Not to mention, this pervert followed her into the store like a stalker... She gave a look of disapproval as her colleague again pulled out the orange volume. "I ought to burn that," Kurenai murmured. "You almost were killed."

"It saved my life," Kakashi retorted. "Emotions that are _purely human_," he repeated. "Think about it. I just immersed my head into a particularly delicious—"

"Licentious," Kurenai mumbled under her breath.

"—passage of the Icha Icha series, confusing the shadow for a moment," Kakashi continued. A grin rose on his face at Kurenai's puzzled look. "It probably wondered whether I was a human or just a horny animal."

Kurenai sweated at the full explanation. Well, it sort of was logical. Other animals had sex drives of their own. Many humans, especially men, could be beasts in that subject. But it still was difficult to conceive that such an unreal monstrosity could be thrown off for a moment by Kakashi during his... hobby.

Kurenai strode away. Great. Not only would she have to show her cousin Hatsue exactly how much damage came to the jewelry shop (especially when the whole thing might have been prevented, had Kurenai not delayed the last inspection), but she might have to report to Tsunade exactly how Kakashi had prevailed against the monster. Ew.

Kakashi shrugged at the fuming retreat of his coworker. 'She doesn't know that perversion can be an art.' The silver-haired jounin continued his daily worship of the Icha Icha series. His finger carefully turned a page, while he toured the store with slow, calculated steps. He turned back to Kurenai, and added: "By the way, I'll check the other jewels for dangers!"

"I bet you will," Kurenai muttered. The bells of the front door tinkled with her slam. A giggle came through Kakashi's mask as he kept reading. He decided that this was the best security inspection EVER.

* * *

There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes. — William John Bennett

* * *

Shino watched with an impassive face as beady insects swarmed on his palm. When they scattered, a bracelet of freshwater pearls revealed itself on the Aburame's hand.

Shino hooked a finger on the strand of irregular pearls. He was about to hold the jewelry up, when he stopped.

"Oh, wait." With his thumb, Shino wiped away the chunky leftovers of youkai-egg from some of the pearls. The maneuver was as natural and gross as the removal of a popped zit.

Meanwhile, the kikai bugs were scurrying back into the various unseen holes of Shino's body. Half his face was still covered with the tiny, black insects. Shino held the bracelet back to a kimono-clad girl, who looked very white indeed. "Thank you for your patience," Shino said. "It's clean now."

The girl let off a terrified squeak, and ran off. Shino was left on the street, the pearl bracelet still hanging over his fingers.

"She doesn't seem to want it back," Shino mused, turning around and facing Kiba. The last of his kikai scurried out of sight.

"Dude," Kiba murmured, feeling slightly sorry for his bug-using teammate, "how're you _ever_ going to get a girlfriend?"

A pause. For a fraction of a second, Kiba swore that he saw a crease on Shino's forehead. "What does that have to do with anything?" Shino asked.

An uneasy feeling traveled down the dog-user's back. "Never mind." The fanged ninja pulled his hood tighter to his head. "Still, what a weird report Hinata gave us." He scratched his clawed hand over his covered head. "Calling jutsu, in these bread crumbs?"

Bread crumbs? To Shino, that almost sounded like some sort of fairy tale. "Hinata said that eggs of dangerous creatures were hatching," the Aburame corrected. "It's easier for us, since Akamaru and my kikai picked up their distinct scent."

Akamaru barked at a looming figure in the streets. Shino and Kiba turned to the side, hearing the brush of footsteps. There was a dark-haired teenager leaning on the side of a building.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke wondered if he was doing folly. Here he was, walking the street with a bandage around his throbbing, half-cracked head, and using the wall of a building for support. His sandaled feet now and then hooked against a pebble on the road, something that never happened with his gait.

A full-grown dog with white fur and floppy ears appeared in his vision. It looked up cautiously at the ninja. The canine sniffed Sasuke's clothes, gave a wag of its tail, and trotted away.

Sasuke's memory wavered. Didn't one of his classmates in Academy carry this same breed and color of dog on his head?

"Yo, Uchiha!" Sasuke looked up. It was Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. Kiba patted Akamura, and sent a wolfish grin to Sasuke. "What happened to your head?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Minor injury."

Kiba crossed his arms, his face skeptical. "Uh, huh. So _why_ are you walking against a building as if you're drunk?"

Sasuke glared at him, before his hands tapped off the brick wall. He put himself onto his two legs, smoothly as possible. "Orders of Hyuuga Hinata," he said in Shino's direction. It was not as humiliating as Sasuke had imagined, telling someone that he bent to the will of the timid Hinata. "You too?"

Shino nodded, pushing a finger up the rim of his spectacles. So his thoughts had been correct that Hinata was working with Sasuke as well, not just Naruto. For what ultimate objective, Shino was still trying to figure out with his insects. "Sasuke, I highly doubt that Hinata would ask assistance from anybody of your condition."

"Don't blame you," Kiba snickered at the raven-haired ninja. "Getting sucker-punched by Gai..."

Do not kill. Do not kill. Thus chanted Sasuke's mind. Damn this small town and its gossips. Only two hours had passed since that street incident with Lee and Gai, and every citizen probably knew by now. Sasuke just decided to get to the point — at least to collect information.

"How many eggs did you get?" Sasuke asked.

"We crushed five, still in their dormant state," Shino reported. "You?"

A muscle in Sasuke's mouth twitched. "Two..." Inside, his ego was almost crying. Actually, it had been only one egg Sasuke could take complete credit for beating, since the second one had been already weakened by Naruto.

"See you later, Uchiha!" Kiba shouted.

Sasuke suddenly realized that both ninja were walking away. 'What the hell!'

"Get back to the hospital," Shino said as a farewell.

Fine, Sasuke decided. He usually liked working on his own anyway. He took another look at his omamori, and smirked at what he read. Another youkai seemed to be forming in the eastern part of the village.

Sasuke turned around, and went in the opposite direction that Kiba and Shino were going. He forcefully blinked his eyes: his sight was still okay. Sasuke just had to make sure that nothing was thrown against his skull a second time.

The Uchiha disappeared from the dusty street.

Kiba and Shino stopped in their tracks. "Follow him?" Kiba suggested.

Shino nodded in agreement. "He seems to know where he's going."

"And he might die," Kiba added with a snort.

* * *

Neji stopped in his tracks. The Hyuuga looked at the fork in the road, both leading into the surrounding forest of Konoha. Uzumaki Naruto stood behind him.

Naruto pointed to the left road. "It's that way."

Neji's Byakugan zoomed back to where they were standing, and focused on Naruto. "How did you know that?" the jounin almost barked. "Are your chakra-senses that accurate?"

"Not exactly." Naruto displayed the red-and-gold omamori within his sleeve.

Neji saw the lines glisten with chakra. He guessed it was some sort of tracking device. "Why do you need me, then?"

"Old man Hiashi wants me to oversee you," Naruto answered. "Remember?"

The Hyuuga prodigy saw Naruto make the Gai-trademarked 'nice-guy' pose. Neji only was relieved that the blond chuunin did not possess that blinding sparkle of the teeth as well. "Whatever," Neji intoned, before kicking off the frozen forest ground. Naruto followed.

After half a minute of running, Naruto saw a spot of yellow on the roadside. He slowed down a bit, letting Neji keep the lead.

A basket was tipped over on the ground, with spilled-out mushrooms that Naruto could not identify. It must have been rare type indeed, to be able to grow in this cold weather. 'Must be one of those extremophiles,' the blond thought, remembering one mission that involved cleaning a hot spring. 'Organisms that live and thrive in extreme conditions, like really hot or really cold places...'

Neji's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Naruto," he said in a rare quaver, "is this in the job description that Hinata-sama gave us?"

The blond shinobi glanced up. Naruto pushed chakra in his legs, and jumped away. A crystallized, aquamarine spike stabbed into the earth where Naruto had stood. As it was lifted out of the frosted ground, the spike turned out to be a beak.

A blue, gigantic rooster crowed.

Naruto pumped his fist in the air. "Yup, that's our job. Onward!"

"We have to fight a _chicken_?" Neji's voice was an approaching storm. "I have never had such a demeaning mission in my LIFE." He must have been frustrated indeed, for he almost reached a shout.

"This job is _not_ demeaning. And that's not a chicken!" Naruto argued. "It's a developing youkai, in the shape of a rooster!" He disappeared from the Hyuuga's side, and appeared on the trees. A large wing of the monster-bird crashed through the branch Naruto was standing on. The blond shinobi simply jumped to another tree. "If we don't destroy it quickly, it might grow to be strong as Gamabunta!"

"Who?" Before Neji could receive an answer, he saw two claws speeding towards him. Two crystalline, large, and very sharp claws. Instinctively, Neji moved. 'Kaiten!'

Globs of diluted miasma splattered around the Hyuuga as he deflected the beast. The giant rooster was pushed back twenty meters from the powerful defense. It jumped back up, flapped its wings, and gave an ear-piercing cry. Neji winced at the sound. He willed his bloodline limit to resurface.

'Byakugan!' Neji's eyes turned white. Veins protruded around his high cheekbones, so prominent that they looked like tentacles crawling beneath his skin.

Hidden behind a tree trunk, Naruto carefully observed the developing youkai. Sure enough, the monster held an unconscious human within its breast.

Naruto recognized the prisoner: the retired chef of the most expensive restaurant of Konoha. He was a complaining old git, who often pushed away kids. He had even kicked a seven-year-old Naruto in the shins for bumping into him in the village marketplace. Naruto did not have a particularly good esteem for the chef. He was just a bitter old man. Still, he was an elderly citizen of Konoha. Nobody deserved such treatment.

Naruto whistled. "Neji! Only pure chakra blasts are effective for these!" He blinked as he watched the Hyuuga stoop down into an all-too-familiar position. "Wait, Neji!" the blond yelled quickly, "Inside—"

'Jyuukenhou: Hakke Rokujyuuyonshou!' (Gentle Fist Style: Sixty-Four Hands of the Eight Divinations)

Neji razed apart the monster with his chakra-infused hands.

Naruto clutched his head as he watched. 'Oh, no!' There was a person inside — but there was no way Naruto could run in front of an attacking Neji without risking major internal injuries.

Neji twisted his arms in a slightly irregular manner as his attack progressed. Like a sculptor chiseling the statue out of the rock, his gentle fists pushed away the obstructing mold. Neji interrupted the attack mid-way to extract the human, and then blasted away the rest of the mutant rooster into a formless ooze.

Naruto gulped, far out of the Hyuuga's field of divination.

Neji looked back to Naruto. "You didn't _really_ think I was oblivious to the man inside?"

The jounin focused his attention back onto the victim. He knelt down, and laid the man on the cold earth. Naruto leaned over, watching. Within two seconds, Neji traced out a silver chain from the old man's neck.

The chain appeared clean — but there was a circular locket attached to it. The locket clicked open within Neji's bandaged fingers. Sure enough, there was a rubbery bead inside, pulsing and swirling with color. With a glowing palm, Neji slapped the youkai-egg, liquidating it in the same manner he had rid the Hyuuga mansion of houseflies.

The remains of the miasma evaporated into thin air. The locket shone as good as new. Naruto was sort of glad that, for once, they didn't have to destroy the jewelry like what had happened the other times. Even if the necklace did belong to a grumpy old man.

Something in the locket caught Naruto's eye. Two crisp-colored photos were jammed in, as if they had been stuffed in recently. On the left side smiled a younger version of the retired chef. He actually looked happy, Naruto thought in awe. But what surprised Naruto more was the picture on the right side: it was that of a smiling woman, cuddling a newborn baby next to her face.

"He had a _kid_?" Naruto asked. "And a wife?"

Neji snapped the locket shut. "Correct. Why do you act so surprised?"

"I thought he hated kids!"

Neji stilled in thought. "Yes, he did forbid them in his high-class restaurant." He turned to Naruto. "Did Hinata-sama tell you what happened fourteen years ago, when the Hyuuga held an important dinner there? I had lost my way to the bathroom and ended up in the kitchen instead, and this man," Neji glanced down at the old chef, "pulled me up by the ankle and physically tossed me out of the restaurant, Hyuuga or not."

Naruto choked down a laugh. The image of a four-year-old Neji dangling upside down by an adult was priceless.

There was also something of amusement in Neji's eyes for a split second. Yet the Hyuuga's expression turned serious once more. "My father told me afterwards... that this chef had a young wife and one-year-old son. She was pregnant with their second child during the initial attack of the Kyuubi on the Leaf. The restaurant had been caught in the blast. The building was renovated into a magnificent place afterwards. But he couldn't tolerate the sight of children after that."

An awful feeling shot into Naruto at this piece of information. "Oh." When the elderly man began to stir, he suddenly felt out of place.

Neji immediately recognized that the blond shinobi felt awkward. "I'll carry him back to the village," Neji said. "Naruto, you alert the hospital that we have a man with a broken leg coming. I'll meet you there."

Naruto trod backwards. "Um... yeah." He left with a dash.

Neji raised an eyebrow at the blond's hasty retreat. The jounin then looked back to the old man. Neji shook his shoulder. "Oji-san."

The retired chef blinked. The first thing he noticed about the young man was the distinct pair of eyes. "Hyuuga?" he croaked. He sat up slowly.

Neji's gaze did not waver. "Do you remember anything of what happened?"

The old man rubbed his shoulder. "I had been gathering something..."

Neji held up the yellow basket. "This?" He was aware that the mushrooms inside were a delicacy. The cook probably was the only one who knew the exact location where it thrived.

The elderly chef looked surprised for a moment. "Oh." He took the basket from Neji's hand, and set in down next to him. He saw that a few of the mushrooms in the basket had been crushed, but it was still something of a harvest. The gray-haired man pulled up a knee — a look of pain shot across his lined face.

Neji crouched down, his back to the chef. "Your leg appears to be broken," he said. "Allow me to carry you to the hospital."

The retired chef seemed to be insulted for a moment. He attempted again to get up on his own. Again, a piercing sensation. He sighed, down in resignation, and reached for the jounin's shoulders. Neji boosted him up, and began to walk towards Konoha.

"Thank you," the gray-haired man spoke. "If you hadn't found me then..."

Neji thought for a bit. "It wasn't me," he said. "Uzumaki Naruto led me to your unconscious state. He left only recently, to alert the hospital for your arrival."

The old cook's eyes appeared glazed, as he rested his head on Neji's back. It was as if he could not figure out what a proper answer would be. "That... Naruto..." he repeated.

Neji nodded, with a rare smile. "Yes."

* * *

A tall, white-haired man stepped down a torch-lit hall. The man's long hair was now washed, clean and sleek. His shabby clothes had been thrown away in favor of a smart, gray uniform.

A soft layer of mold blanketed the walls surrounding him. This underground castle was not tops in quality... but at least it was quiet, unlike that dungeon of wailing souls.

He walked to the table, upon which a small globe rested upon a cushion. His large hand rested upon the sphere. The colors inside began to swirl.

"So the Priestess finally noticed the eggs. Or at least, her bodyguards did." The white-haired man turned around in his seat. "Sending them with the jewels was your idea, I presume?"

"...Yes." A brown-haired, thin man stepped out of the wooden column's shadow. The pointed beard at his chin and his slanted eyes gave his face a sly, triangular look. A white, twisted cord around his head, and the simple kimono of a getup, suggested he was a carpenter or smith of sorts. "Those mortals better appreciate my art while they're still living."

The lord turned back, facing his crystal ball once more. The colors inside melded together in an image, a teenage girl with cropped, midnight-blue hair, and the softest white eyes. "You set the eggs to hatch, once the Priestess touched one of them," he said. "Am I correct?"

The carpenter slid down the muck-covered wall. "Yes," he said, dread in his voice.

"And it took _two months_ for your plan to start itself."

"Yes," the man with black hair repeated.

The young lord ran a finger sensuously over the image of the Priestess' face. "And you failed to consider that a girl of her type would be the _least_ likely to buy things like jewelry," he said, a frightening iciness in his voice.

"I-I made sure that they would appeal to the culture of that village," the carpenter explained nervously. "We found out from Hirosuke's last moments that she comes from a high-class family, so I figured..."

"What that village calls high-class is a little different from what most towns and cities deem it," retorted the man with flaxen hair. "And I did not find out her lineage through Hirosuke. It was through the last moments of the triple-eyed serpent." He smiled at the carpenter's surprised face. "I feel each and every death of my children."

The dark-haired man sputtered. "Then... why didn't you tell Hirosuke the correct..."

"Because he was too dense to recognize a pearl as a pearl," the young lord answered. "I had no use for Hirosuke anymore. I only gave him the order to 'kill the Priestess', so that he might possibly take out one of her companions before he died."

The dark-haired smith snorted to himself. "But she freed the Yasanagi no Magatama _anyway_, and took it from your control. That's why I sent the jewels in the first..." His eyes widened. The carpenter clapped a hand over his mouth, horrified of what insolence he had thus far said. "My lord, forgive me. Take out my—"

"Do not worry for your tongue," the white-haired man interrupted. He smiled, giving no indication of ill will or annoyance towards his talkative subject. "And I only order torture when I think it has... educational value. You know all you need to know, including respect for me."

"Y-yes," the other being stuttered, his sweating hands gripping the hammer he held.

"You may retire for the rest of the day. I will watch how the Leaf will survive this."

The room suddenly lit up. The two beings looked at the crystal ball. An ember of light glowed within the image: the Priestess stood at a small tree, gripping the Magatama within her palm.

"My, isn't she the busy one?" the white-haired one stated.

* * *

Tsunade rechecked the scroll draped over her arm. She rolled it up in a flourish, and turned to Hyuuga Hiashi and Hinata. "According to the records of the other Hokage, this is the place where Konoha was founded."

Hyuuga Hiashi looked at the dry stone. His pale eyes climbed upward, and then saw the Hokage monument looming above. He had never seen Tsunade's nostrils from this point of view.

Hiashi drew out a withered, ancient scroll from his sleeve. He unrolled it slowly, taking care of the frail paper. "Hinata, come over here." His head turned around. "Hinata!"

Hinata jumped at the sound of her father's voice. She quickly ran back to him — but she gave a curious glance back at the small tree growing out of the rock.

Tsunade eyed the scroll. "I have a bad feeling about this, Hiashi."

Hinata thought likewise, when her father held out the contents of the scroll in front of her to read. "That shape..."

"...Is like the field of divination," Hiashi finished for her. "Credit Hanabi for finding this scroll. Our clan elders had deemed it long-lost from our family library."

Hinata studied the paper for about twenty seconds, not moving. She bit her lip, unsure of what to do.

Tsunade sighed. "Let me guess. The calligraphy is so fancy that it's not even legible."

"Um... I can..." Hinata twisted her hands. "But I'm unsure of the relative positioning. It says 'the beginning of the village', but further it says, 'the living altar into which the Magatama's power should enter.' "

Tsunade blinked. 'A living altar?' She looked, and realized that Hinata had looked at footnotes which Tsunade herself had passed off. 'Damn, and I thought I could escape written details when I left the office,' she inwardly complained. "Let's focus first on the order of the seals first," Tsunade said. "This is a 'basic' cleansing jutsu, so the scroll says. But I'm going to stop you if your chakra reaches the limit."

Hiashi glanced at the nearby tree. Hinata had been quite curious about it ever since they arrived to this summit. But what was interesting was that the Magatama at Hinata's neck appeared to sway, towards the leafless tree.

"That's it," the Hyuuga patriarch said.

The Godaime turned. She saw Hiashi pointing at a thin, ash-colored stick. With a frown, she strode towards the meager twig. Tsunade crossed her arms at Hiashi. "You think _that's_ the living altar?" she asked. "It barely looks three months old!"

Hinata walked forward — and then noticed a light tug around her neck. She saw for a brief moment that the pale, pinkish-purple bead of the necklace was floating. The Magatama was actually _pulling_ Hinata forward. The blue-haired girl peeped.

Tsunade heard a light thump behind her. Hinata had tripped, and was lying face down in the ground. "Hinata!"

The heiress quickly got up, and brushed herself off. "I'm okay," she said quickly, trying to look more dignified in front of her father and the Hokage. She made her way towards the small tree, and reached it with her two hands.

With one touch, Hinata knew. She did not need her Byakugan to realize that this black stick of a tree was alive. The holy ki from the Magatama almost immediately flowed into Hinata's body, and transferred into the tree. She marveled at how much this little branch could take.

Seeing the drain, Hiashi pulled Hinata away. "That's enough. We don't want you using up your chakra reserves so quickly before you actually perform the jutsu."

Tsunade crossed her arms. "You seem to be completely sure that this will work, Hiashi." She stepped behind Hinata. "I'll work as your second medium for this. Hiashi, step back."

Hiashi's brow wrinkled. "My apologizes, Godaime-sama — but I thought _I_ would act as Hinata's backup."

Tsunade's hazel eyes narrowed at him.

Hinata suddenly felt as though she were between two quarreling parents. Tsunade appeared to be distrustful of Hiashi. Hinata had already noticed several members of the ANBU secretly escorting the three of them on this covert and highly unusual mission.

"Stand down, Hiashi," Tsunade said coldly. "I want you to oversee the whole ceremony, and only interrupt when you think necessary. Your Byakugan will recognize immediately if the both of us get locked in a jutsu. In that kind of worst-case scenario, only _you_, Hiashi, can to disable our chakra systems before we're completely drained. Although I'm a medic-nin, I would have a difficult time pulling both you and Hinata if you freeze within an ancient jutsu like this."

Hiashi nodded curtly, obedient to the Hokage. Tsunade was right. As much as he wanted to be as close to Hinata as possible through this bizarre and possibly dangerous ceremony, he could only watch on the sidelines.

Hinata repeated the order of hand-seals within her mind. She was nervous. Not only was the Magatama hot to the touch, but her father was watching nearby. 'Oh gods, please help me get through this...'

Tsunade clapped her hands, and rubbed them together. "Ready, Hinata?" she asked, a bit too excitedly in Hiashi's opinion.

Hinata gulped down a lump in her throat. "I'm ready." She felt Tsunade's warm hands lightly touch her shoulders, glowing with extra chakra.

Hinata's eyes shot open, glowing white. The Magatama felt white-hot against her clothes. The aura flowing into her chest suddenly overwhelmed her, as if a waterfall was breaking out. She had to get rid of it!

Hinata immediately flicked her hands together. Tsunade's voice, shouting out each and every one of the hand-seals, was barely a quiet drone to Hinata. It was almost an annoying distraction; Hinata had already memorized the order of the In. The Priestess grabbed a hold of the small tree, and released the jutsu through her arms and hands.

"Reibai, sono Ichi: Shoujin Kessai!" (Psychic Medium, the First: Self-Purification)

The holy ki piling up in Hinata's chest rushed into the small tree. The black bark turned a lighted gray from the aura. Out grew branches and leaves, made of nothing but light. The branches thinned and flailed as they lengthened out into the air, making the tree an anemone of white chakra.

The breathtaking display lasted only about three seconds. The branches turned into invisible threads as they spread over the village, and the small tree returned to its dormant state of winter.

Several breaths escaped Hinata. She peeled off her hands from the bark. 'Did it... work?'

Tsunade rolled her head on her neck, checking the muscles. Acting as a second foundation for that technique took the wind out of her for a brief moment, but it had immediately been cured when the jutsu had actually spread across Konoha. She felt refreshed. But what about the rest of the village?

Hiashi felt like collapsing onto something. Knowing that his daughter was safe, his Byakugan eyes unfocused from Hinata's healthy chakra system, and then turned onto the landscape of the village buildings.

"What's happening, Hiashi?" asked Tsunade.

* * *

"RASENGAN!"

Naruto threw the whirling chakra-ball at his intended target — when he realized the clear-blue giant dog was gone. It just _collapsed _right in front of him, like a cheap, plastic outdoor pool losing a support.

The miasma did not splash down into a gooey puddle, and slowly hiss out of existence. It simply evaporated into thin air with a pop. The human victim dropped to the ground, unharmed.

Neji watched as the soaring Naruto — well, stopped soaring, and fell ungracefully onto the dirt road. His Byakugan still active, Neji glanced at Hiashi, who was surveying the village all the way from the base of the Hokage monument. Hopefully, his uncle would dismiss Naruto's stunt as a perfectly-normal action after Hinata's sudden blessing.

Neji nodded. "It seems the village is safe now."

Naruto got up with a bewildered face. "You mean... Hinata-chan did it?" He ran to the man who had been prisoner in that most recent monster, and checked his gold-chain necklace. "He's completely clean! No monsters!"

Naruto said that a little bit too late. The guy was already wide awake, and pissed that a teenager had fondled his brand-new gold chain.

"Who're you calling a monster?" the burly man roared, throwing a punch up at Naruto.

"Hey!" Naruto evaded the punch. "I just saved your life!"

"Don't fight," Neji ordered.

* * *

"Other than a little street confusion," Hiashi reported, his Byakugan melting away, "everything is in order."

"I see." Tsunade smiled as she touched Hinata's forehead. The girl looked drowsy, although she could still stand. "Hiashi, I recommend that you buy lots of orange juice for your household."

Hiashi blinked. "Pardon?"

"Water replenishment," Tsunade explained, "as well as Vitamin C for the immune system, and potassium for replacing electrolytes." She shot a finger towards him. "Your last mission of the day is to get at least ten packs of orange juice concentrate at the grocery store before it closes, and make the stuff at home!" she ordered. Her voice lowered to a whisper. "It's your duty as a _father_."

That was a jab. So Tsunade had updated herself on the internal struggles of the Hyuuga clan.

The Hyuuga patriarch refused to frown. Or laugh. If Hiashi so much as dared scoff at the medic-nin's nutrition advice, he would probably find out how far his Gentle Fist could hold back Tsunade's Hard Fist style. "Yes, Godaime-sama."

* * *

A raven-haired young man stood at his kitchen stovetop. Sasuke leaned over the pot of chicken soup, inhaling the steam for his sinuses. His thoughts trailed back to the recent week.

It was already five days into the new year. Five days since that bizarre infection of youkai-eggs on the village. Naruto, Sasuke, and several chuunin and jounin held off that supernatural attack, but Hinata had finished it in the end. With a convenient discovery of some ancient family scrolls by Hanabi, Hinata had been able to clean the entire village of youkai-eggs with one shot.

Sasuke began to chop some Chinese cabbage on a cutting board. No, it wasn't traditional to include that type of vegetable into chicken soup. But it had been done before.

(( Sakura dumped the pile of chopped vegetables into the pot. Not minding in the slightest that Sasuke next to her was giving her weird looks, she stirred the mixture with a happy smile.

"Did I just see an octopus tail?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura blinked, and looked at him. "Octopus? That's impossible." She folded over the soup with the ladle, sifting through the ingredients. Several spots of red showed up. She laughed at Sasuke's queasy look. "Sasuke, those are just red onions."

Sasuke rested an elbow on the counter, and dropped his chin into his hand. "There are too many weird vegetables."

"Weird vegetables are still vegetables," the medic-nin defended. "Vegetables are good for you." She picked up a head of Chinese cabbage. "And the finale! I learned how good this stuff tastes from Naruto!"

"Naruto?"

"Well, only indirectly." Sakura was pensive, not noticing Sasuke's frown. "We ate together at the Ichiraku Ramen several times, and I had noticed that they use this in _all_ their dishes. They put Chinese cabbage in their chicken broth, so why don't we?" ))

Sasuke slid the chopping knife across the board, pushing all the cabbage into the stewing pot. He stirred the mixture, mentally bringing himself back to the present. He had to concentrate on the here and now, the business of being a shinobi, being a bodyguard.

'So that snobby brat Hanabi had found the scrolls ages ago, but Hinata had not paid attention... The whole brouhaha with monsters and that rabbit float...' Sasuke rubbed his head where the goose egg had been.

Sasuke tried getting angry at Hinata. But he couldn't. Besides, he heard from Naruto that Neji had already tried that. Maybe Sasuke only wanted to be frustrated at Hinata for not paying more attention to her younger sibling. Just like...

Sasuke heard a knock at the door. The chuunin pressed the intercom. "State your business."

"It's Kakashi," the intercom crackled.

Sasuke lifted his finger off the button, and groaned. He wanted some peace and quiet for a sick day, and Kakashi drops by?

After checking the eyehole, listening through the door, and sensing the other person's chakra, Sasuke opened his door in one swing.

"What, no locks and chains?" Kakashi asked.

"The last door fell off its hinges from the weight," said his pupil deadpanned. He stepped to the side, making way for Kakashi to enter.

Kakashi nodded. "Ah." He smelled the air. "Chicken soup?"

"Yes," Sasuke said. "Want lunch?"

Kakashi observed Sasuke. His revenge-obsessed student was offering him food? This flashed danger signs.

Sasuke recognized that look. "Unless you break something, I will neither charge you money nor poison you."

Kakashi grinned under his mask. "All right." The jounin followed Sasuke to the small kitchen.

The silver-haired man sat down, as Sasuke ladled two bowls full of hot soup. He saw his bowl hit the table in front of him, the liquid almost jumping on his clothes. Kakashi studied the mixture with a wary eye.

"Is that an octopus leg?" Kakashi asked.

"It's a red onion." Sasuke put his hands together. "Itadakimasu," he muttered. He vaguely heard his teacher say likewise. Not paying attention to Kakashi, he began to swallow down the hot mixture, spoonful by spoonful.

"Sasuke, did you read the items Tsunade handed down to you?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke inwardly groaned. He knew he had forgotten to do something. He then looked at Kakashi's bowl — it was completely empty. Sasuke realized that he missed a possible viewing of his mentor's face. "Damn it, you eat too fast!" Sasuke hissed.

Kakashi looked at him. "Why are you going off the subject? You didn't read the scroll?"

Sasuke looked back to his soup. "No," he answered. "I didn't. I was cooped up in the hospital for that concussion and the several knockouts afterwards, then got distracted for two days, and found out this morning that I had a cold." He looked up at Kakashi. "I have a _good_ list of excuses."

Kakashi sighed. 'Maybe I am a bad influence in some areas.' The jounin flicked open a pocket of his shinobi vest, and out fell a tan scroll. He unrolled it before Sasuke. "You've been wondering why you were kicked out of the ANBU-training class, correct?"

"Other than that the trainer was a thickheaded slave-driver spouting off contradictory orders, yes, I have been wondering why," the chuunin snidely remarked.

Kakashi stared. That was the longest sentence he had ever heard Sasuke say. He shook himself out of the stupor. "I'm glad to see you have such a high opinion for that trainer," Kakashi said. "But that was not the real reason of that little incident. It was actually the method you used from that scroll, _Elemental Jutsu Systems_." Kakashi read Sasuke's blank face. "You've heard that calculus has several ways of writing the same thing, correct?"

"Um... yeah," said a bewildered Sasuke. "Why not?"

Kakashi sighed. "Forget the analogy. I'll explain. In the research of jutsu, sometimes one can predict the outcome of a new technique by looking at the order of hand-seals. This study is simply called 'jutsu-equations'. However, shinobi from different regions of the world write out jutsu-equations in their own way, with slightly different symbols and tools." Kakashi jabbed the paper on the table. "According to ANBU records so far, there are only four different known systems."

Sasuke tilted the bowl to his mouth, and drank down the last of the broth. He set the ceramic down with a thud. He set his dark eyes upon the graph Kakashi's finger was indicating. The ninja paused. Sasuke, remembering back to that awful night in the library, saw what was wrong.

"The scrolls we used doesn't match any of these systems," Sasuke said with realization.

Kakashi held up a hand. "Ah, not necessary," he said. "The volumes which you and Naruto received were written most closely to the Hidden Mist style." There was a snort from under his mask. "But that doesn't make things look any better."

(( The older shinobi glanced back. "Your investigating was fine work in this assignment," he complimented. "But a bit _too_ fine. Cheaters like you are not worth the dirt you step on." ))

Sasuke's head dropped on the table. It all made sense now. "So for the ANBU trainer, I'm too prepared for my own good."

Kakashi's one eye rolled in exasperation. "Haven't you thought of something deeper than your promotions?" he asked. "Even if it was your first time learning jutsu-equations, your eyes might have noticed something unusual about those scrolls."

The raven-haired ninja picked his head up from the table. He sifted his memory back to Sakura's scrolls, the contents, the facts, rules of the game...

Sasuke then tried to remember the format of the scrolls: what they looked like, instead of what they said. The flowing yet simple calligraphy. The ink pictures of flowers between chapters.

Sasuke stared into blank space. "She wrote them by hand."

Kakashi nodded. "If Sakura didn't write and organize those volumes herself, she at least copied them word-for-word from another text," he said. "She's the type to knew quite well that when one writes down something, it is more easily memorized."

"There was someone with pink hair spotted in one of the northern countries," Sasuke continued, a growing sense of dread inside him. "Sakura's copy of the written portion of the Chuunin Exams is probably still on file..."

Kakashi nodded. "Right. Sakura was qualified for being a chuunin. She had even mastered a foreign style of jutsu-equations — that kind of knowledge would have given her the status as a jounin, in some hidden villages."

Sasuke felt a slight tinge of jealousy at Kakashi's comment. It disappeared away, however, at the intense look coming from his teacher's dark eye.

"If Sakura is still alive out there," the jounin articulated to Sasuke, "there is a high probability that she is an enemy to the Leaf."

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	32. Seeing and Recognition

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

by XyoushaX

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

x

"Quotations"

'Inner Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

x

Chapter 32: Seeing and Recognition

* * *

"Bullshit."

Kakashi was unsurprised with Sasuke's reaction. "Sasuke, I'm not telling you, just for the sake of telling you. You wanted to know why the trainer kicked you and Naruto out. This is the evidence I gathered." The jounin sighed. "I think you've never completely learned to see Sakura as a fighter in her own right, Sasuke. Even if she's gone, I think you ought to start."

Sasuke kept his eyes on the table, Kakashi's scroll rolled out before him to see. The signs were all there that Sakura had studied the destructive forces of elemental jutsu. Her calm and precise operation on the written test. The scrolls in her possession, in her writing. Through Sasuke's eyes, it tainted her image — not only as a devotee of medicine, but also as a trusting friend. Why hadn't she shown him such information earlier?

"The purpose of that assignment was, yes, to make you investigate and teach yourself jutsu-equations," Kakashi said. "But any realistic trainer would want, no, expect you to find the style of the Hidden Leaf." He looked at Sasuke's annoyed look. "What about finding the other styles, you say? Well, that would be technically impossible. Because the trainer had arranged that none of his students would receive travel missions during the time you had to do the assignment."

Sasuke crumpled his fist. "What if I had known about jutsu-equations before the assignment was given?"

Kakashi scratched his bushy hair, looking a little guilty. "You know that little entrance exam you took, in order to get into the training class?" said Kakashi. "I sort of... looked at them." Sasuke's mouth took an obvious downward turn. "You, along with everybody else, started class totally ignorant of jutsu-equations. The scores prove it."

Sasuke glanced away. Damn. So his teacher knew about his imperfect test scores.

"It's logical that you would be successful looking for the Hidden Leaf style, especially while being trapped in the Hidden Leaf." Kakashi folded his hands. "One certainly would not expect you to find the style of the Hidden Mist, which is deemed the most cold-blooded and xenophobic shinobi village of them all. If you had managed to obtain that kind of scroll, you'd either now be very dead by the Hidden Mist's hunter-nin, or a spy for them." Kakashi paused, before adding with dry humor, "And you're definitely not dead." The silver-haired jounin rolled the scroll back up, and removed it from the table. "You just happened to have the misfortune — or fortune, from my perspective — of getting those scrolls from Sakura. As a beginner's guide, I say they're great. Helping to earn the trust of our ANBU? Iffy."

Sasuke pulled his hand across his pale face. This was getting more complicated than he had presumed. He still wanted to say it wasn't fair that the trainer kicked him out of the class. An investigation was an investigation, no matter what means they went through. Yet entering the ANBU required utmost trust.

Sasuke took Kakashi's empty bowl from the table, set it with his own, and carried the dirty items to the sink. "Are you going to tell the trainer about the scrolls?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke paused. "You didn't report it to him?"

"Your choice," Kakashi said with a shrug. "It's a perfectly valid reason for the unusual way you did the assignment. If he doesn't believe you, I can back you up." He saw Sasuke tilt his head down, as if the kitchen sink were the most fascinating thing. "Well?"

* * *

Naruto coughed out bits of ramen. "You're NOT reporting the scrolls to the trainer?" he asked Sasuke. "WHY?"

Sasuke hit him on the back of his head, nearly ducking the blond's face into the hot bowl of soup and noodles. "Be quiet!" Sasuke ordered in a whisper.

"But you wanted to enter... that squad!" Naruto avoided saying the word 'ANBU' in public, even if it was within the confines of a modest bar like the Ichiraku Ramen. "This is your chance! You'd also get off the trainer's personal 'suspicious' list. He might even LIKE you for sharing that information!"

Sasuke turned away, scoffing. "And put him on Sakura's trail instead?"

"...Oh." Naruto, embarrassed that he didn't realize that detail about his lost teammate sooner, grabbed a small bottle off the counter and began sprinkling drops of chili oil over his ramen. "Yeah, that would be... really bad." He fished some more noodles out with his chopsticks.

"I'll prepare for the final exams alone," Sasuke said. "The class isn't mandatory anyway."

Naruto looked surprised for a moment. What Sasuke said was actually correct. The training class was just a preparatory thing. It was like how some city-kids went to juku — cram schools — in order to help them achieve a better test score in the official exams. Sasuke would obviously be at disadvantage to the others. But he still had a chance, especially with his bloodline limit and insane work ethic. Hopefully, Kakashi would have enough time to periodically check in on his training.

"So there's no problem at all!" Naruto took a particularly large bundle of the ramen noodles, and shoved it in his mouth. He suddenly felt his mouth on fire: too much of that chili oil had been sprinkled one spot. After chewing carefully and swallowing, the blond ninja took a great gulp of cold water.

The raven-haired chuunin glanced to his rival. "What are you going to do?" he asked, wondering how Naruto would try to advance. Sasuke's eyes suddenly glowered with hidden threat. "You're not going to tell the trainer."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm not. I hate that guy." He munched on a piece of boiled leek, which he pleasantly discovered was not sharp to the taste. "Besides, I'd rather be a jounin," Naruto said. He lifted the bowl's edge to his lips, preparing to down the rest of the broth. "Maybe with a group of students on my own, you know?"

"Gods have mercy on them," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

Naruto accidentally gulped down an air bubble with the soup. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, letting down the empty ceramic bowl with a thud. He contained a painful burp.

Sasuke only gave a smirk for an answer, as if saying, 'Just LOOK at your state.'

Indeed, ramen soup dripped out of Naruto's nostrils and past his chin. Naruto turned away, deciding to ignore his rival in favor of something much more positive and satisfying. "One more bowl, Occhan!"

Sasuke's smirk turned into a disgusted scowl. 'A third bowl? His stomach's going to rupture.'

* * *

The waves of water rushed over jagged rocks. The laughter of children tinkled through the air.

Sakura sat on a bench, her dark kendō robes waving gently in the sea breeze. She wore a second montsuki-shirt over the first one, black instead of white, which was traditionally worn in cold weather and formal events. It was somewhat loose, but thick and abundant enough to warm her throat and torso. Her pastel hair looked darker in the gray winter sky.

Sakura stretched upwards like a guy. Holding the refreshing position, her eyes fell upon her extended feet. Black, single-toed socks, and zori-sandals. It had taken a while to get used to walking everywhere in them, through dirt, snow, and even mud. Dressing in 'samurai' getup had initially given her an odd, exposed sensation. She had liked shinobi sandals, and hard boots good for kicking.

But even zori felt fine with some practice. And there were some shoemakers who incorporated more modern materials into them, like rubber and steel. It made them a little more weather-resistant than the bare minimum of woven straw. 'Now if they just figured out how to put flexible, lightweight armor into the padding,' Sakura thought, 'I wouldn't have to worry so much about maki-bishi spikes on the ground...'

The clouds of the sky created a thick blanket, obscuring any sign whether it were noon or evening. Sakura's green eyes drifted towards the shore. She found herself staring at the water washing over the sand. The waves were different each time, yet always the same, into something eternal.

A small yelp, followed by a wail, disrupted Sakura's thoughts. Her eyes darted to the far right. A brown-haired boy, looking no older than four years, had tripped while running in the sand. Sakura watched carefully as he curled his knee to his chest. His ankle was bleeding. Near his small legs was an overturned shell, the source of the cut.

The boy sniffled, looking at his bleeding ankle. He had never seen so much blood in his life. He looked around, and realized that his parents were out of sight. His playgroup had run too far away.

Sakura instinctively drew herself up from the bench. But before the medic-nin could walk forward, another figure swept past her.

"No worries, small child."

The boy looked up. A tall man in Shinto uniform, his wavy blond hair tied back, knelt down in the sand before him. The boy's usual fear of blood, and of strangers, somehow vanished with this person's presence. Everything about the man spoke of a gentle, caring older brother.

"Stretch your leg forward, so that your foot is on my hand," Minoru instructed.

The boy complied quietly. Sudden fear shot into him when the blood reappeared, but the priest's apprentice quickly covered it with a damp cloth. He held back tears as the shrine-worker carefully brushed away sand particles from the wound.

Minoru, noticing the child's pain and fear, gave an assuring smile to him. "It's just about done." He slipped a small bottle underneath the cloth, and squeezed. A green drop into the cut, unseen to the child. Minoru immediately placed a clean gauze pad over the slowing wound. His long fingers skillfully wrapped the bandage around the ankle, finishing with a small, clean knot. "There," the elf said. "Are you able to stand?"

The boy carefully pulled himself up. It didn't hurt anymore. And the bandaging wasn't bulky or odd-looking.

"Nobu-chan!" another voice called from the hill. "Where are you?"

Minoru looked up, and saw a worry-stricken woman looking around. "Go on," he said to the boy named Nobu.

Nobu looked at his mother's form. He hesitantly glanced back to Minoru. "Ah, um..." He gave a quick bow to the shrine-worker. "Thank you, Onii-chan."

Minoru's blue eyes creased at these words. Unnoticing of Minoru's expression, the boy ran off towards his mother, stumbling once but never falling.

Minoru rubbed the back of his head. He had just been called an older brother. He knew that it was just in the culture of children of this world, to call anybody older than them as a sibling (or an uncle or aunt, if they appeared older). Fifty years ago, Minoru might have felt insulted if a human addressed him in such a familiar manner. Now he was somewhat befuddled.

"Well, aren't you taking over my duties?" Sakura said. Her eyes were glued on Minoru's back, and lower, as the handsome elf drew himself up. 'Damn, those hakama-pants don't show any shape.'

"I studied medicinal alchemy, and was employed as a healer in Minerva." Minoru turned towards the pink-haired kunoichi. "I am capable as you in performing First Aid."

"I was talking about the green liquid," Sakura said. "It glowed like the Chiyute no Jutsu upon contact."

"I started making and testing the formula during our winter break." Minoru tucked away the remaining gauze and medical supplies. "From feeling the Hokage's aura and comparing it to mine, I realized that might be able to convert my energy into a healing liquid. Consider it a slow Chiyute no Jutsu in a bottle." He tapped the center of his own forehead. "Oh, yes — do you remember that jewel on the Hokage's forehead? I wouldn't be surprised if acted the same way as a unicorn's horn."

Sakura stepped back from Minoru. "That would fit," she said rather curtly. The kunoichi turned her eyes back on the ocean. "Is Potamos still out there?"

"She is," Minoru answered. "We will need her in top shape for the Rice Country."

Sakura squinted her eyes a bit. Between the folds of water, Potamos was doing a bit of synchronized swimming. The girl's purple hair was still in bouncing locks, even while sloshing through the waters. 'It's probably some sort of visual benefit for a being of water-demon,' Sakura guessed.

Suddenly, a third voice piped up from behind Minoru and Sakura. "Mommy, Daddy, there's a girl dancing on the ocean!"

Sakura froze, not even daring to glance back at the child. Indeed, on the ocean's surface, Potamos raised her arms and one leg upward, making an arabesque. Her standing leg was perfectly straight, her pointed toe trailing in the ocean. It was the most graceful thing Sakura had ever seen the water-demon do. But there were other people watching from the strand, for heaven's sake!

"Don't be silly, Akio-kun." A woman tugged the boy away from the sharp boulders. "Nobody's swimming, and certainly not dancing."

"Huh?" The child stared out to the empty ocean. Confused, he unquestioningly continued to walk with his parents. He gave a small glance back at the waves, but there was still nothing.

Sakura sighed in relief. Potamos had submerged herself back in.

After the small family had left, Minoru shook his head. "She's careless."

Sakura appeared contemplative for a moment. Her eyes then blinked. She turned to Minoru. "Wait. What did you say?"

"I said, Potamos was careless."

Sakura waved her hand. "No, before that. Rice Country? Since when was this in our traveling schedule?" Her green eyes widened as Minoru pulled out a folded leaflet from his pocket. "No, not the Kiyomizu Tournament!"

"It's for investigation of the samurai-class there," Minoru said. He inclined his head towards the ocean. "A gracious lady invited you two — yes, I was listening from the other side of the bathhouse — and we ought to take the opportunity. You and Potamos can easily enter that competition of samurai-ninja double teams together."

The human scrutinized on the bow and quiver set on Minoru's back. "Minoru-san, you only want to go because there's an ARCHERY contest."

A look of surprised delight came across Minoru's face. "An archery contest, you say? I had no idea until you told me."

Sakura clutched her pink hair, and walked away from him. 'Damn it!'

* * *

Spring entered strongly that year. The hoarfrost on the trees softened, dripping off as water onto earth and finally into streams. Creeks flowed and joined together to form rushing streams, which then inspired the dry-yellow grass into various greens. Buds sprouted on trees. Barely a week after the buds' appearance, half the forest was green.

The forest around Konohagakure was quick to recover after the strike of winter. Record cold temperatures had hit the area during the New Year holidays, which only seemed to make the plants keener to grow back into the monstrous, protective canopies they were known for.

Of course, this did not mean that everybody was ready for the new weather.

"Tsunade-no-baachan," Naruto whined, hugging his arms together, "close the window! Your office is freezing!"

"It's not cold, you wuss." The Hokage set a paperweight onto a stack of sheets, preventing the wind from scattering them. Tsunade had opened all the windows of the room to clean out the dry old smells of winter: stale paperwork, and raw medicines that had been spilled on the floor due to carelessness. "It's called Spring."

"Um, Tsunade-sama?" Tenten raised her hand hesitantly before her idol. "Why did you call us here?" She glanced at Lee to her right side. Naruto and Sasuke stood to her left.

The Hokage took a sip from a tiny cup. A ceramic bottle stood on the corner of her desk. She gave a sated exhale. "Nothing like hot sake to warm you up."

"You just said it wasn't cold." Naruto shivered in his black-and-orange clothing.

Tsunade coughed. She set the cup down, and addressed them. "I'm assigning you four on a B-rank mission."

The four of them? Naruto already had a bad feeling about this arrangement, especially when it involved Lee and Sasuke together. Lee appeared quite forgiving after the destruction of his float a few months ago, but Sasuke might not be so accommodating. Naruto wondered whether there was any other option. "What's Neji doing?"

"He's on jounin business with Gai and Kakashi." Tsunade massaged the back of her neck. "Your mission is to escort the third son of the Rice Country daimyo, to the Kiyomizu tournament."

"A daimyo's son?" Lee asked excitedly.

"Third son," Sasuke intoned. He was skeptical whether this would be a worthwhile mission. As lines of inheritance went among feudal lords, being third in line, even as a male, did not mean much. Whatever this boy was, he was probably confined all his life in a mansion, deemed a useless prop. He would only become of some importance if both of his older brothers encountered a very severe accident — or "accident" with the quotation marks, as enemies and conspirators dubbed them.

There was a knock at the door. An unfamiliar voice quavered through the wood: "Um, Hokage-sama..."

"Yamasaki-san, you may enter," Tsunade said.

The door slid open. The figure edged into the room, and finally gave a bow.

"My name is Yamasaki Ichirou... Pleased to meet you."

The four chuunin stared at the boy. Ichirou was short, and looked no older than fifteen. His hair was tied back in a ponytail with a crisp cut, in the traditional manner of young samurai. The bony structure of his face and enlarged, watery eyes exposed anxiety.

Sasuke turned away, as if the client's image would stain his eyes. 'I knew it. An insecure weakling.'

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" the blond next to him shouted out, making everybody's ears ring. "I'll protect you from anything, be it demons or the Akatsuki!"

Ichirou looked slightly ruffled at Naruto's boisterous introduction and outstretched hand. "What's the Akatsuki?" he asked, his brown hair already turning loose from its ponytail.

"Absolutely nothing you'll be concerned about!" Lee said, bestowing Naruto a breath-knocking slap on the back to silence him. He gave the scared Ichirou a heartwarming smile. Then his teeth glittered. "Because we're going to protect you!"

Behind the two loud and colorful ninja, Sasuke and Tenten stood uncomfortably.

"Isn't putting a B-rank on him too high?" asked Sasuke.

"Well, he IS a daimyo's son," Tenten said.

Sasuke glared at her. "I wasn't talking to you."

Tenten's stature froze, while the raven-haired shinobi turn an impassive face back to the Hokage. Even though Tenten was one year his senior and could nail almost any weapon down, Sasuke was moody, and freaky. She had managed to get along with Neji back in her genin days — but it had still been long and difficult to earn Neji's respect for her as a warrior. Sasuke would probably be a similar case.

Tsunade looked over the chuunin's various reactions to Ichirou. This was tricky: she now had to determine who was most suited as group leader. Naruto would be too excited for something like that, and probably would do something stupid. Lee was also the enthusiastic type, albeit for a different purpose. Sasuke might have had enough sanity to take a leadership role, but he looked unhealthy right now, and probably would not want to do it in the first place — especially if Naruto made a fuss. Tenten was the only completely normal one of the bunch, but she looked a little frightened of the dark Uchiha (not that Tsunade blamed her).

Tsunade rubbed her head. Hadn't she assigned some sort of team like this in the past? She undid her tight lips, and breathed.

"Lee, I'm placing you as team leader."

Lee froze. Sasuke, Naruto, and Tenten were also surprised with the Hokage's decision.

Tsunade's serious expression did not falter. "Lee, I trust you to carry this mission with the utmost care, and reason."

"Y-Yes." Lee appeared a little grim as he bowed, but he saluted the Hokage with a good-natured smile.

"Good. I'm counting on you." Tsunade revolved in her chair, and reached for her hanko. She stamped the Hokage's seal on the mission sheet. "All of you, go home to pack your things, and meet at the gate at ten. The gatekeepers will oversee your team's departure with Yamasaki-san."

"Ossu!" Lee interjected, already over the initial shock. He left the room in a mad dash, probably to include some last-minute training, Tsunade thought.

Sasuke groaned. Lee was team leader. Well, it was not the end of the world. Lee was definitely not the type to be power-hungry, or put his teammates into unnecessary risk. It could be worse, he thought, glancing at Naruto.

Naruto's thoughts were very similar, except that Naruto was glad that Sasuke was kept from being team leader. Although, he would have felt a little more stable if Tenten had been chosen instead of Lee. Lee and Sasuke left the office.

Tenten was alone with her charge and the Hokage. "Yamasaki-san, I'll see you at the gate." She quickly bowed to Tsunade, and turned her heels.

"Wait, Tenten."

The brown-haired kunoichi halted in her steps at Tsunade's voice. She slowly spun back, wondering what the Godaime wanted with a normal chuunin like her.

The Hokage motioned the girl towards her desk. "Come here." Tenten moved forward, a little nervous. "Although I'm placing Lee as team leader," Tsunade said directly to her, "I am entrusting you to keep him _calm_."

Ichirou seemed intensely worried at the Hokage's unusual order. "Is he mentally unstable?"

"Lee is fine." Tsunade pulled out a drawer. "He simply tends to be overenthusiastic in getting a mission done." She turned back to Tenten. "Make sure he doesn't kill himself from training, at the very least." The Godaime put a small jar on the desk, and slid it over to the young chuunin. "And take this."

* * *

Ichirou shuddered a bit as he walked the dirt road of the Rice Country. Sasuke and Tenten walked in front of him, while Naruto and Lee were taking the back. Although the four shinobi were a good distance from Ichirou in terms of space, he still was uncomfortable.

Ichirou pulled his montsuki-shirt tighter around his neck. Although he was a daimyo's son, he was used to turning invisible in the crowd by dressing up in shabby clothing, particularly grays and blues. This journey to the Kiyomizu tournament — through his own home country, no less — made him more creative in looking like a poorer samurai. A patch was sewn on the graying shirt, and his navy-blue trousers possessed a faded tone.

Naruto breathed. Now that he was walking through the slowly greening landscape, the early spring air did not seem so cold anymore. There were even a few flowers opening up.

"Hey, Ichirou-san," Naruto piped up, looking at the various stitches on Ichirou's blue-faded hakama, "are you good at sword-fighting?"

Ichirou jumped at this question. He gave a sheepish smile back to Naruto, who was walking behind him to his left. "No, not particularly," Ichirou said. "At least compared to the other contestants. But I like the sword arts as exercise. And my father doesn't mind."

Tenten raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that daimyo normally don't allow their kids into tournaments?"

Ichirou looked down at the dirt road as he walked. "That is correct. My two brothers never set a foot in a public tournament, even though they were better at age fifteen than I am." The gaunt teenager looked at the single katana at his waist, and shivered. "Ever since they brought in that event for samurai-ninja double teams ten years ago, people of power have been taking their first-borns out, fearing assassination attempts."

"What injustice!" Lee said, gripping his fists. "They hire shinobi as outside security, yet let the dangerous thugs through!"

"Lee, be realistic," Tenten said. "Remember that Ichirou-san trusts us enough to protect him."

"Um, about that," Ichirou glanced around at the four, "would you mind NOT walking in a square formation? It reminds me of a box..."

"How do you want us to walk?" Sasuke asked sharply. If one hired ninja as escorts, it was a given that they would walk in a protective formation in the wilderness.

Naruto raised a hand. "Sasuke, chill." He walked up, next to Ichirou. "I hate those escort formations, too," he commented, smiling at his charge. "They're too damn obvious. And you can't talk like normal people."

Lee slowly fell into position to the other side of Ichirou. Soon, he and Ichirou began a conversation about different barehanded martial arts. Ichirou seemed to grow more relaxed as it went on, happy that someone knowledge was willing to talk to him. Naruto tried joining in, but he ended up just listening, when he realized how much Lee knew about non-shinobi combat.

Sasuke slowly trailed back in his steps, finally falling behind Ichirou. The Uchiha still believed in formations: with him in the back, Lee and Naruto chatting with Ichirou between them, and Tenten in the front, it was a loose diamond form.

"There it is!" Lee shouted. "The famed Kiyomizu!"

The group stopped at his voice. Their eyes trailed down the scenery. It was a valley of rice paddies, a small lake at the bottom, and a patch of buildings. A crescent of whitish-pink bordered the lake: cherry blossom trees.

Naruto gulped. He did not dare look at Sasuke behind him, for his rival would probably just glare back. He turned to Ichirou. "Um, isn't it too early for flowers?"

"Well, Kiyomizu is a bit unique," Ichirou said. "This area is closer to the ocean. Plus, a special air stream travels over the valley. For these reasons, this village has a warmer climate, and an earlier spring. But it also means that it's prone to storms." He pointed at the houses, which almost all were flat, one-story buildings — nothing like the nail-up-and-hope-it-stays fashion that characterized much of Konoha architecture. Out of all the Kiyomizu buildings, only one hotel had two floors, evidently reserving the second level for the high-paying guests wanting a better view of the lake.

Tenten's eyes sparkled at the village. Being a weapon-wielding tomboy certainly did not make her insensitive to natural beauty. "That lake has perfect water!" she exclaimed. "If you had hot springs to boot, this would be the greatest resort!"

Ichirou nodded. "It's my favorite getaway. Nothing like the stuffy capital." He trudged down the sloping trail, taking care in his gait so as not to fall. "It's not a very large town. But it's economically stable, since Kiyomizu attracts a small tourist population, with the tournament and the early blooming of the cherry blossoms."

As the group descended towards Kiyomizu, Naruto was mentally bracing himself. Sasuke was cool enough to see cherry blossom trees _en mass_ without tying too much into metaphor, right? Naruto sure hoped so.

Lee pumped his fist upward. "So, Ichirou-kun, which one of us do you want to accompany you in the samurai-ninja dual team?"

Ichirou blinked. "Oh, I almost forgot..." He fidgeted. "Well, to tell you the truth, I've never entered that contest before. It's the most high-risk event they offer." He looked around at the four chuunin. "To be quite frank, I'd rather go into the contests I entered last year. It's not like I'll advance far in that double team anyway. And I don't want to put you in unnecessary danger for my sake..."

Tenten abruptly stopped in her tracks, nearly forcing all the men walking behind her to crash against one other. "I don't know." She turned around, spinning a kunai in her hand. "It might be fun."

Naruto and Sasuke did not move, yet their expression spoke of similar interest in competing.

Ichirou stared at them. "Ah... are you sure you understand what the samurai-ninja double team is?"

"A samurai versus a ninja!" Naruto interjected. He then looked at his teammates. Lee and Tenten appeared as thought they wanted to collapse with embarrassment, while Ichirou already had fear back in his face. "Okay, I was guessing," the blond admitted. "Tell me what it is."

Lee cleared his throat. "Essentially, it is a normal kendō duel, except that each samurai has a shinobi acting as backup," Lee explained. "The samurai must concentrate on his true opponent in the duel — the other samurai — while facing the additional pressure of an enemy shinobi. The two shinobi, meanwhile, each must concentrate on protecting his own client, and at the same time not directly interfering with the duel." Lee held up a hand. "For this reason, the contest has some... guidelines."

The faces of the other chuunin scrunched up, obviously displeased at the word 'guidelines'.

The green-clad shinobi ticked off the items on his bandaged fingers. "No outside assistance, no offensive elemental jutsu, and no explosives," Lee listed off. "The shinobi must depend on speed, weaponry, and stealth, while subtly protecting their charge." He put his hands on his hips, puffing out his chest. "Is that right, Ichirou-kun?"

"Um... yeah." Ichirou stared at Lee. "That was a perfect explanation."

"No outside assistance?" Naruto said. "How could you do that to begin with?"

Tenten crossed her arms. "They probably mean summoning jutsu."

"Oh, yeah."

Tenten bit her lip, and began to mutter to herself. She understood not bringing in animals or people through summoning. But what about summoning tools, like weapons?

"Sasuke, you're probably out," Naruto said, a bit too suddenly for his rival's tastes. "You can't use anacondas or your fire-techniques. You'd either squeeze the samurai to death or flame them into charred corpses."

"Those aren't my only strengths," Sasuke returned in a low, defensive tone.

"Uh, please, wait a moment!" Ichirou said hastily. If there was anything he hated, it was witnessing others have an argument over him. That, and morbid talk. "Perhaps... you could all give me a short demonstration." He walked into a yellow, straw-studded patch near the side of the road. "I am not pressuring you to enter, but since you are so eager..."

Ichirou, in truth, was scared witless about the idea of entering the samurai-ninja double teams. But he felt inclined somewhat to give at least one of his bodyguards a chance to be in the tournament; they probably were as bored as hell right now. And who knew? Perhaps the experience would be enlightening for him.

The young samurai approached an upright log in the middle of the grass patch. It was a practice log for kendō, with padding surrounding its trunk at chest-level. "Let me see the best you have, using this as a target."

Sasuke put his hands into the first seal for the Chidori. He then thought better, and loosened his fists. A gutting punch like that was so strong, and loud, that the judges might as well call it an explosive. The raven-haired ninja felt two blurs next to him. Naruto and Lee had already moved.

The taijutsu-specialist was already spinning, yelling out his marital artist cry as his leg went towards the log. "Achooou!"

Two thuds sounded out.

Tenten, Sasuke, and Ichirou watched from a distance. Lee had his heel on the practice log, while Naruto had his fist on the padded portion.

"You know," Naruto said, appearing as though he held back tears, "this is a really hard log." He withdrew his reddening fist, and turned back to Ichirou. "And I've just realized that with the rules, I can't really do anything except throw kunai."

Tenten sighed in exasperation, while Ichirou just gave an apologetic smile. "That's alright," the boy said. "As long as your aim is good enough not to accidentally kill."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this comment. He began to pull something out of his shuriken holster.

Lee, meanwhile, still had a heel positioned on the practice log. Suddenly, a small crack ran through. The top half of the prop completely slid off, and crashed to the ground, as gray rocks. The practice log, as it turned out, was actually a column, with pieces of old bark cheaply glued onto the side.

Naruto rubbed his knuckles. 'So that's why it was so tough. It's rock, not wood.'

"Yes!" Lee pumped two fists in the air in victory. Unbeknownst to him, Ichirou looked absolutely stricken with Lee's display of strength. The martial artist had broken rock using only his foot, after all.

"Ichirou-san!" The young samurai looked upward. Tenten skipped between two trees. "I can do some long distance!" she called out to him. "You want space in that contest, right?"

"Uh..." Ichirou could only watch as the kunoichi flipped through the air.

From her fingertips, long strands of glistening blue streamed out. Tenten flung her arms towards the remaining half of the practice log: five lines of chakra attached to the rock. Tenten, her left hand occupied with the glowing threads, flung her legs around a branch for support. Hanging upside down, she pulled out several kunai with her right hand. "The strings are just to hold the opponent in place," she explained to Ichirou.

"Rubbish."

Ichirou's watery eyes glanced back. An unimpressed Sasuke had made that comment.

Tenten stared from her upside-down position. Several strings that could not possibly be her own — she never used wires, after all — flew around the practice log, and attached in a similar manner as did her threads of chakra. The blue glowing strings and black wires shone in apprehension towards each other, like two spiders going for the same bait.

Tenten felt a chakra string droop out of its former tightness: one of Sasuke's wires had severed her own. It was just one strand... But a small part of her was angered with him for interrupting her routine. Did he have no respect for his seniors?

The weapon-mistress pulled out several kunai. This now was a contest of aim. Ichirou wanted someone with accuracy, to have the least possible risk of damage to others, while still having adequate protection in the tournament.

Using her left hand, Tenten let fly six kunai. All hit with deadly accuracy onto the halved prop. One blade went so far deep as to hold itself up in the rock. From her place in the dry tree, Tenten beamed towards Ichirou.

Ichirou, however, was still looking at the log. The hollows in his cheeks deepened as his mouth opened in shock.

A Fuuma Shuriken rammed itself into the remains of the practice log. It flicked off Tenten's kunai like toothpicks.

Sasuke landed on the ground. He silently walked up to the site of attack, carefully wound up his wire, pulled out the enormous shuriken, and folded its blades with a slink. The Uchiha turned towards his charge. "Is that enough?"

Ichirou gulped. "Um... that was... really great. Good job." He pulled his eyes away from Sasuke. He then looked at the kunoichi hanging above him. "I think I'll go with Tenten, though."

With that, the boy fainted.

* * *

Naruto yawned, stretching up in the cool morning air. This mission was more hectic than he had expected. Not only did Naruto have to see that Ichirou recovered after witnessing his bodyguard's various strengths, but the he also had to convince the young samurai that he would be perfectly safe. Ichirou always gave a nod and a wobbly smile, while he watching vicious-looking men crowd the hallways of the inn they were staying at.

To be truthful, Naruto was as worried as Ichirou. Yes, Naruto had been eager of possibly entered a contest that would test his shinobi skills. But now he felt as though he snowballed Ichirou into something he didn't want. Even though all the kendō-artists would be donned in armor and armed with shinai — bamboo swords — who knew what the other ninja would do? Shinobi were essentially hired mercenaries, so some would try to bypass the rules. Or worse, ignore them completely.

Naruto was also a little concerned about Tenten. She was the only one in the four-man cell who had demonstrated accurate long-distance skills, and a modest level of common sense, which made her the best candidate. But she would be the only one protecting Ichirou in the arena. Wasn't it the point of an escort mission to keep the charge out of as many risky situations as possible?

If Ichirou got hurt in that competition, Tsunade would be extremely angry. Tenten seemed to be well aware of this: at breakfast, she suddenly got up from the table, ran to the bathroom, and emptied the contents of her stomach.

"Knives and swords and needles and tags,

send the little munchkins to the body bags..."

Naruto froze in his tracks. Those lyrics were certainly unusual. Waves of dark-purple shone, before disappearing from the street. Naruto cranked his head, trying to get a better view through the mass of pedestrians, the coming-and-going spectators of the Kiyomizu tournament.

Finally, he caught sight. A short girl, dressed in a dark ninja uniform, her hair a shade of lavender, skipped on her way towards the changing house.

'Did she dye her hair that way?' Naruto asked to himself. 'Never thought purple would look so natural on hair. Kinda like Sakura-chan.'

Behind the lavender-haired kunoichi followed a kendō practitioner. He was already covered from head to toe with the helmet-mask, armor, and of course the black montsuki and hakama underneath. The mask completely hid the person's face, not only by its visor of horizontal metal bars, but also the black mesh sealed inside. The only source of identification was the number "15" on a white armband. Obviously, the two were entering the samurai-ninja double team contest together.

Naruto stared. Something clicked as he gazed at the short girl's back.

'Oh my God.' Naruto had to keep himself from gawking too hard at the changing house, or otherwise people would think him as perverted as his main teacher. 'She was Sakura-chan's teammate in the Chuunin Exams!' Naruto recognized. 'The hair isn't up in pigtails anymore, and there's no more black streaks... But it's definitely her!'

A second thought flashed through Naruto's head: 'Could she know where Sakura-chan is?'

Perhaps, he thought, he could just go up and ask her. But ninja did not simply pass out that kind information, especially to shinobi of other villages. That girl from the Hidden Rain might even be...

'... not a real genin.'

Naruto recollected something. There had been several reports that a few extra ninja had snuck into the last Chuunin Exams. The culprits were never really caught, as none made it to the finals. But if they had managed to infiltrate the Hidden Leaf anyway... they must have been extremely good.

Then Naruto's thoughts swiveled onto the kendō practitioner. That person had closely followed the purple-haired girl — not in a straight posture, like usual samurai held themselves, but slightly leaning forwards, as if regarding the cute, morbid-singing kunoichi as a bosom friend.

Naruto swallowed. He turned around, rubbing his head. 'I have to gather more data. Quick.'

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	33. Shades of Green

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

It appears that some people grow upset with me because of my sloth in updates. But as flattered or harassed I feel, I cannot meet the demands like a year before, when I could churn out a chapter a week. I simply need to work harder in school. For example, Financial Accounting is killing me. And my English class in Renaissance literature is taught by a professor who is originally from New York, got his Ph. D. from friggin' _Oxford_ University, and is extremely funny and intelligent. (How can you _not_ work for him, when he's come all the way to an insignificant liberal arts college in the Midwest?) My two other classes are in political science and require essays — many essays. And the swim team has started, which means I need SLEEP. Unlike many college students who can stay up until four and still partially function in class, this is not the case for student-athletes.

Some partially good news is, my parents recently got me a laptop. Rejoice? Well, don't do it too hard. Because my little sister downloaded video games on it, particularly fantasy RPGs. Damn it, she is both cute and evil.

Oh, and one reader asked who the real main character is in this story. Well, I consider Naruto and Sasuke, and Hinata and Sakura, as the four central characters. Although it seems like Potamos (not mine) and Minoru (mine) are playing significant parts right now, Potamos is put in more for humor and horror, and Minoru is a mentor-type figure. Zashiki Warashi is also sort of a mentor, but in a strange way.

"Quotations"

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback))

Chapter 33: Shades of Green

* * *

Naruto speed-walked into the streets. He looked around for Sasuke, while still trying to keep his appearance hidden from the kendô-practitioners near the arena. If Sakura was under that mask along with the hyperactive Rain-nin — Naruto did not remember her name — then he had to get as inconspicuous as possible. Were Sakura really participating in the ninja-samurai tournament, she probably would at least be nervous that Tenten was in it.

The blond knew the flaw in his logic. That purple-haired kunoichi might well have been on the same kind of mission that Tenten was on: mainly, assisting a client for pay. There was a good chance of that kendô-practitioner being a normal citizen. But there was one thing that had been bugging Naruto, ever since the finals of the Chuunin Exams. Sakura had wielded a sword. She had been sloppy at first, but she eventually drove a broadsword through Hoshino Hirosuke's stomach, like a hot knife through butter. Naruto swallowed. 'Come to think of it, the fact that she defended herself with a sword almost _proves_ that she could at least entrust her own skills with it...'

Naruto kicked off his shoes at the main entrance, threw the inn's complimentary slippers. The damp soles of his feet let of quick snapping sounds upon the polished floor.

Naruto slid open the door of the room. "Sasuke!"

Instead of Sasuke, Lee was there. He stopped in his one-hand pushups, and looked up at Naruto. "Oh, hello, Naruto-kun!" Lee's brow wrinkled with sweat and concentration as he continued. "Two hundred and..." For a moment, his eyes blinked. He began the push-ups again, starting over, "One, two, three..."

"Lee." Naruto's face was serious. "I have a bone to pick with you."

* * *

Sasuke set himself down firmly at the restaurant booth. He was mentally and physically exhausted. Because Tenten needed to be at top shape for today, Sasuke had taken most of guard-duty in the previous night.

Right now, he could not possibly fall asleep. The sight of daylight made it naturally more difficult. Lee was currently using their suite at the inn as a training ground, so finding a darkened and quiet place there to sleep was useless. With all the battle cries squawking from Lee's lungs, Sasuke might be sorely tempted to attack the martial artist again.

"Anything for you?" A fresh baritone voice came from behind the counter. "We just received a new stock of sake. It might be a little early for the day, but you'd be the first one to try it."

Sasuke's eyes drowsily looked up. He realized that the bartender was talking to _him_. Apparently, the man judged that Sasuke was at least twenty years old.

It was not that unrealistic of an assumption. Sasuke's face was mature and sharp, and his demeanor was certainly beyond that of the average seventeen-year-old. His character was certainly no warm fuzzy. (In a past mission, one of his clients commented that Sasuke grumbled like a man in mid-life crisis.) And a ninja's life expectancy was low compared the other people. Even Kakashi, nearing thirty, was considered one of the more ancient ones on the Konoha force. The Legendary Sannin might as well have been dubbed legendary, just by their achievement of entering their fifties.

Shit, Sasuke thought. That probably meant he'd have to start looking for a wife within two years. With a conservative estimate, he'd probably expire at twenty-seven years of age.

Man, was he getting depressed or what?

Then, miraculously, he saw a flash of pink.

The inner broodings of Sasuke jolted to a halt. Pink hair. There was someone with pink hair coming in the restaurant. The young Uchiha blinked his Sharingan on for just a moment. Was he seeing things?

The tinkling of laughter sounded as the restaurant door banged shut. A scantily dressed girl walked into the restaurant with two other of her girlfriends. Her hair was pink all right.

But it was not the light, pastel hue that his former teammate and real cherry blossoms possessed. This girl's head shouted out a neon, bright, almost-magenta PINK! Exclamation point included. From its impossible shine, it was obviously dye. Apparently, pink was the new fad for hair color among adolescent girls. Just like ten years ago when bleaching one's hair with peroxide was popular. The idea of getting pink hair might _possibly_ have been an off-shot of Sakura's performance in the previous Chuunin Exams...

Sasuke turned downward onto the counter, his fists crunching. "She started a trend," Sasuke growled under his breath.

The bartender looked at Sasuke. "Sir?"

Oh, yeah. The bartender. Sasuke had momentarily forgotten about him and his offer for sake. "One shot," he requested in a forced, calm voice. "JUST one." Sasuke wanted a new experience to take his mind off pink hair. He loathed the idea of encountering many pink-haired girls in the near and immediate future who were _not_ Sakura.

The bartender raised an eyebrow. He walked to the stove, and reached into a large pot. He lifted out a small ceramic bottle, its sides dripping from the hot water bath. He carefully poured some of the liquid in a ceramic shot-glass.

Sasuke watched the tiny cup clunk down. A thin wisp of steam wafted out, having a pungent smell of sugar. Not wanting to appear foolish by asking the bartender to take it back because he was underage, Sasuke lifted it to his mouth and sipped. He wanted to spit it out almost immediately. It was a weird taste of bitter, tang, and syrup all together. Sasuke lowered the cup, and was perturbed when realizing he had only skimmed it. Part of him wondered how adults could stand this stuff.

The bartender narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the young man. "Hey."

Sasuke looked up. His heart beat slightly faster with tension. Had the bartender figured out?

"It's a girl, isn't it?" the bartender asked in all seriousness.

There was an awkward silence between them. Finally, Sasuke rewarded him with a glare. The bartender lifted his hands slightly in apology. "Woaw, sorry if I guessed wrong." He turned from the stoic young man, and his head tilted in the left direction of the bar. "It's just that you have the same look as that rounin."

Sasuke dark eyes glanced sideways.

There was a person in black robes, sitting alone at a booth near an open window. A sheathed katana rested on his lap. He watched the variety of people outside stride by. Even though there was a roof over his head, he wore a bowl-shaped hat of straw and brown sunglasses to block the sun rays coming through the open window.

Sasuke carefully set the ceramic cup down, still studying the man from the corner of his eye. The rounin's straw-hat was a strange green, as if it had been dipped in an artificial dye. The material was so thin that it allowed some light to filter through, giving a green tint on the person's face underneath. He also wore a loose, green turtleneck under his black montsuki. It was an unconventional yet practical touch to the otherwise traditional kendô robes. His relatively small body structure and smooth skin hinted that he was still a teenager.

Sasuke lowered his head in curiosity. The facial features of the rounin seemed a bit familiar, as if they had met before. He tried to dig in his waterlogged memory about the shinobi of the Hidden Sound.

Sasuke turned to the bartender. "Why is he wearing sunglasses indoors?"

The bartender drew in a breath of air through his teeth. "I don't think those are sunglasses," he murmured to Sasuke. "They appear brown because of that hat's green shade, but they're actually red when you look closer. He might have that rare type of blindness, in which the person can only see with the assistance of red-tinted glasses."

Sasuke paused. He raised an eyebrow at the owner. "How do you know about different types of blindness?"

"I'm a _bartender_," the older one said. "I know everything."

'Yeah, like that you served liquor to a minor,' Sasuke privately commented.

Sasuke set his eyes back on the person at the window. At that moment, the rounin looked up. Underneath the greenish shade of the hat, some bangs of light-brown hair shone.

Sasuke quickly set his eyes back on his cup. He berated himself for nearly getting caught staring. Surely, one teensy cup of sake, did not affect his ability to spy without being noticed! Well, perhaps the lack of sleep also contributed to his lack of concentration.

The girls who had come in earlier now chattered and giggled from their booth in the far corner. Sasuke glared at them, hoping that it would silence them. Their giggles only heightened in frequency. It was either they wanted to admire his face, laugh over his exhausted appearance, or both. Sasuke felt a chill as they undressed him with their eyes. Were it not for the bartender's presence, Sasuke realized, he might actually be in danger of getting raped.

"Are you all right?" the bartender asked.

Sasuke could not give an answer. He had not even heard the question.

* * *

"Naruto-kun, I can understand that you'd be suspicious," Lee said, walking through the streets with the fox-boy. "But that you saw Sakura-san's teammate from the Chuunin exams isn't enough. That young lady could simply be working for a client of her own, as a shinobi from the Hidden Rain Village."

Naruto let off a scowl when Lee wasn't looking. The position of leadership must have pushed Lee down into a more — dare one say it? — _modest_ personality. It was good, in a certain sense. But the green beast was turning so uptight that it scared the hell out of Naruto. Lee without passion was like... a pancake without toppings.

Lee smiled back at Naruto. "However, I will do my utmost to keep my eye out for Sakura-san," he said with reassurance. "She is also my comrade."

Naruto gave a relieved sigh. So Lee was not entirely dismissing his theory. Now all they had to do was to find Sasuke, and calmly explain it to him.

Lee looked around the crowded street in concern. "I know that Tenten is at the grounds, but Sasuke never told me where he was going..." He knew well that Sasuke was especially skilled in disappearing into the shadows, both on and off missions. Even if the village of Kiyomizu was small, it was now crowded with spectators. Sifting the raven-haired ninja out might prove a more cumbersome task than protecting Ichirou.

Naruto's footsteps slowed down as he felt a fiery sensation. A beat of chakra rushed into his nose. The Kyuubi was leaking into him. Taking this chance, Naruto pulled up a great sniff of air. He immediately could tell that the grove of cherry blossoms was to the east: the scent was of tree bark, and clean water from the lake. He allowed his brain to slowly adjust, so that he could finally focus on the immediate vicinity. A mental image of Sasuke flashed in his brain. 'FIND HIM.' It was practically a direct order to the Kyuubi.

His nose sensed the trace carbon of fire-jutsu, and the sweaty rust of wires. That was definitely Sasuke. Southeast. Naruto turned in the direction of the restaurants and food stands. He walked a distance of two blocks, turned a corner, and pointed. "That rinky-dink shop there!"

Lee eyed the restaurant. It looked somewhat like a bar... but he shrugged it off.

The wind changed. Before Naruto could pick up his feet again, his nose caught another smell in the air. The scent was that of sharp medicine, a hint of sweat... and soft talcum powder.

"Naruto-kun!" Naruto looked up, and realized that Lee was already at the foot of the restaurant. "You were right! Sasuke-kun is over here!" Lee entered the shop with a bang.

The blond shinobi followed with a hurry. Excitement surged into Naruto as he recalled the most recent scent he had tasted: it had definitely smelled like his pink-haired teammate. More dirt was in the scent than before, but that distinct mix of herbal medicine and sweat was definitely that of Haruno Sakura. She really was _here_, in this village, somewhere around the arena. The Kyuubi's hyperactive sense of smell was already dying down, but it had been enough.

Naruto was just happy that he could tell Sasuke. He pulled the door of the restaurant open.

The sight caused his enthusiasm to plummet. Sasuke was lying face down on the bar's countertop, unconscious, and next to a small shot-cup with a clear liquid. Naruto felt his mind reel. 'What the —' The shock wore off. "Oh my God!" Naruto ran up to Sasuke, and shook his shoulder. There was no response. The blond ninja gave the bartender a furious glare. "You let him pass out, and left him here? What kind of host ARE you?"

The bartender sighed. "Relax, Kid." He continued to towel-dry a dish. "That guy's just sleeping. He barely took a sip before he hunched over and drifted off. I felt sorry for him, so I didn't wake him up."

Naruto crossed his arms. "Am I supposed to believe th—" Without warning, a fist nailed up his chin. Sasuke's arm had punched Naruto, straight upward. This made Naruto take his irritation off the bartender and onto his rival. "OW... Bastard, you _can't_ be awake!"

"He is truly asleep, Naruto-kun." From a careful distance, Lee observed Sasuke's arm flap back down onto the counter. "After being deprived of sleep for long periods of time, some people perform regular, waking-life activities during their slumber once they finally get a chance to rest."

Naruto was skeptical. Sasuke's sleeping face was innocent, infuriatingly so. If Lee was correct, that meant Sasuke subconsciously believed that socking him in the face was a 'regular, waking-life activity'. "Are you serious?"

"My doctors tell me that Gai-sensei and I fall into sleep-running during marathons," Lee mentioned, giving Naruto what he thought was a more believable example. "Apparently, Sasuke-kun did the same thing when you shouted into his ears."

Naruto's lips tightened. "I did _not_ shout into his ears," he retorted in a subdued voice. He shook Sasuke's shoulder. "Sasuke!" His voice was considerably a few notches lower. Sasuke stirred. His eyes blinked open: Naruto and Lee were staring at him. The tired shinobi groaned. He pulled his head up for just a second — before his head fell again onto the tabletop. Naruto coughed, hoping his tone of voice sounded mature enough. "Sasuke, you've got to listen to this," the blond said. "I have a feeling that Sakura-chan might be here."

Lee looked slightly disturbed that Naruto said it so quickly, and bluntly. 'Naruto-kun, our plan was to tell him to keep an eye on other contestants,' Lee thought in exasperation. 'Now he'll go berserk with the thought of Sakura-san...'

Sasuke's response was not quite what the two had expected. He folded his arms together into a fleshy pillow for his head, and curled onto the edge of the counter. The bartender leaned over toward a bewildered Naruto. "He's your friend, right?" he asked. "Don't mention this Sakura to him for a while. Take him to an inn or somewhere to sleep it off." He pulled out a slip of paper. "And his bill."

Naruto took the slip of paper, and read it. His blue eyes darted to the ceramic cup on the table, and then back to Sasuke. So his teammate really had ordered sake. Huffing, the blond shinobi took out the appropriated amount of cash from his billfold and set it before the bartender. He began to peel Sasuke's heavy form off the counter, hoping to support his rival on a quest back to the inn.

Sasuke slapped away Naruto's hand. Alone, the raven-haired ninja pulled up from the bar, and trudged away from the counter. "I'm not drunk," he told Naruto.

Naruto blinked as his rival quietly left the restaurant. He then realized something. "You bastard! You made me pay your bill!"

Lee looked back and forth from the running Naruto and the bartender. "Uh, thank you very much for taking care of Sasuke-kun." Lee's circular eyes looked at the cup of clear liquid. "Ah, but he certainly doesn't have full manners, nor does he acknowledge the life-giving value of water!" he exclaimed. "Forgive me! I shall finish what he started!"

"Uh, that's not water—"

The warning was unheeded. Lee downed the shot of 'water' in one gulp, and slammed the empty cup down onto the counter. He pulled a face. "From its... _interesting_ taste, it seems I was mistaken," Lee said. "That must be a sports drink." He posed a 'nice guy' to the bartender. "Waste not, want not!" he philosophized. Lee dashed out of the store, convinced that he had honored all restaurant-owners in the act of cleaning up leftovers that would otherwise have been thrown out. The bartender, after marveling at the shinobi's speed, picked up the empty cup and set it into the sink of dirty dishes. As far as he was concerned, nothing catastrophic had happened.

Meanwhile in the streets, Sasuke's headache lowered in intensity, thanks to the nap he earned in the restaurant. His gait slowly regained its careful grace, and his face was going back into a scowl in response to the badgering by Naruto. "I'm telling you, Sakura-chan's here!" he heard Naruto insist. "Her teammate from the Chuunin Exams is here — you know, the one with the purple hair?"

Sasuke's attitude curdled like sour milk. "Any moron can use hair coloring."

Naruto was confused. "Huh?"

Sasuke pointed to a line of spectators, who were queuing up early for a good viewing seat for the samurai-ninja double teams. Naruto's jaw dropped to see that at least _three_ girls in line had pink hair. But his determination was not beat yet. "Not among the spectators," said Naruto, "I mean among the competing samurai!" Before his rival could come up with a logical dismissal, he continued: "Remember how chummy Sakura-chan got with that purple-headed kunoichi from the Hidden Rain, back in the exams? That same kunoichi was leading a client around for the samurai-ninja double teams, and that samurai was _slouching_ towards her! No samurai would EVER act like that! I think that it might be Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke's black eyes seemed to turn opaque for a moment.

"I suddenly feel like Naruto-kun has a point!" Lee said, appearing behind Naruto with unnatural vigor and slightly reddening cheeks. "In some old scrolls, there _is_ a five-hundred year old legend of a samurai of justice named Sogo Sakura — even though he was a man, that doesn't mean that Sakura-san might feel compelled to follow her own namesake!"

Sasuke's face turned skeptical once more. "That's just a _legend_, Thick-brows." But he took Naruto's notes into consideration: it was odd indeed that a samurai would act like that, walking so close to a ninja. Although they were less powerful in military terms, samurai were still very conscientious of social status, and kept their relations with ninja to a minimum in the public eye.

"Is there any way we can contact Tenten?" Naruto asked.

"Right here!" Lee pulled out what looked like two twigs from his bodysuit, which turned out to be a small microphone. "The radio transmission!" he announced. "Tenten has a receiver in her ear right now! I just push this button, and—"

A sharp, crackling sound exploded from the device.

The three shinobi stared at it.

* * *

A brunette lifted up a kendô-mask. "This doesn't offer much protection in the back." Tenten turned to her client. "Don't worry, Ichirou-san. I'll be right behind—" Tenten squawked out, as a series of loud snaps reverberated into her right ear. She pulled out the small microphone. 'What the hell is Lee doing?' her thoughts complained.

Ichirou looked at his bodyguard with concern. "Tenten-san, are you all right?" He saw the tiny contraption in Tenten's right hand. "Is that a _radio_?"

Tenten's palm went across her forehead, pulling the chestnut bangs away from her hitai-ate. "Yeah. Lee gave it to me so that we could keep in contact. Piece of junk."

"I think you should throw it away," Ichirou said quickly. "They set up devices around the tournament which interfere with any form of radio transmission. Lee-kun must have tried to contact you just now."

Tenten switch the microphone off, and began to wrap it up in a handkerchief. "Well, there's something that Lee didn't know about this tournament."

"They only put in the blocking systems just this year." Ichirou lifted up one set of armor, checking its size. "So I'm not surprised Lee-kun didn't know about that. There were some problems with hovering parents in previous tournaments..."

Tenten thought back to her recent readings on social behavior. 'Hovering parents' was simply a term for parents who checked on every test score, stat, and secret on their child like hawks. With the recent technological innovations with portable communication devices, hovering parents were a strange but new phenomenon. A few even tried 'long-distance coaching' or 'cheering'. Naturally, it drove some kids to the point of insanity.

In the corner, a tall figure scowled at the pair. 'You should know better than anyone about parents who pay too much attention to their children, Ichirou.'

* * *

Sasuke crossed his arms. "It's broken?"

"And the contestants are already getting ready near the arena!" Lee bemoaned. "There is little chance that we can inform Tenten without attracting notice..." His eyes them opened in sudden realization. His arm shot dramatically towards an empty-looking area. "YET HOPE REMAINS!"

In the dusty street stood a meager folding table, with two men sitting at it, shuffling papers into folders. On the edge of the table flapped a paper in the breeze, the words painted in blocky brushstroke: -Sign up for contestants-

"That is way too convenient," Naruto muttered. 'Of course,' he mentally noted, 'Lee's probably informed of _everything_ about the Kiyomizu tournament. That's probably why Tsunade-no-baachan put him as leader in the first place...' The blond then realized that Sasuke and Lee were already standing at the table. "Hey, wait for me!"

"What do you mean, you can't let us in?" Sasuke hissed at the official.

"From your forehead protector, I understand that you are ninja of the Hidden Leaf." The official clipped down some papers. "But where is your samurai? It is, after all, a 'samurai-ninja' double team."

"We don't actually want to enter the competition," Naruto said, slipping his way between Lee and Sasuke. "We just are here to investigate... a possible missing-nin."

The second official let off an exasperated sigh. He adjusted his headband. A band of platinum gleamed under his thick bangs: it was actually a hitai-ate of the Hidden Cloud. "You're not the first people to try finding missing-nin at tournaments like this," the Kumo-nin said. "But we can't let you in. If you start up a rumor that shinobi are bodily searching anybody they want, for 'security reasons', fewer spectators will come to Kiyomizu's future tournaments." He shot the three a serious, lecturing sort of gaze. "Are you really that willing to ruin this village's main source of income?"

Naruto grit his teeth. Although relations between the Leaf and the Cloud were strained, this Kumo-nin had a good argument. Even if they were searching for Sakura — for them to barge in as non-contestants would question the security around the Kiyomizu tournament. This was just a small village; its existence held up so far mostly because of tourism.

"There are people behind you," the first official droned. "Move it."

Naruto, Sasuke and Lee moved to the side, allowing a pair to pass through. The shinobi with the contestant came from Hidden Rain — he shot a sneer at the three teenagers. "Hey. Kids aren't allowed onto the battle field."

A vein emerged from Lee's neck. "Don't be so sure, you RETARD!" he shouted with a slightly slurring voice. "Tenten is going to kick you ASS!"

Naruto's blue eyes widened at this. Any simple-minded teenager used such words practically in every sentence. But Lee was a gentleman; his language _never_ toed that line in that manner.

"Tenten?" the ninja from the Rain scoffed. "What kind of name is that?" His client waved him sideways, indicating that he needed to sign a few papers.

The three Konoha-nin were left in the dust. Naruto turned around, folding his hands and resting him behind his head. "Damn." Naruto only grew more agitated. Perhaps, maybe...

"And don't even THINK about using a Henge no Jutsu to disguise yourself as a samurai," the Kumo-nin official called out — partially to the three teenagers, but also the pair in front of him. "We test you for that, too." He suddenly jabbed two fingers in the samurai's arm. There was a poof: out of the smoke, a second Ame-nin emerged.

The phony from the Hidden Rain sweated in front of the officials. "How...?" His partner did not look too pleased.

"There's a certain pressure-point that deactivates any Henge." The Kumo-nin official crossed his arms, glaring at the two fakes in front of him. "Nice try."

"Plus, even in your disguise, you didn't have the Mark," the first official said, discarding the paper. "It's something only true swordsmen have. Please leave." The incensed Ame-nin trudged off.

Sasuke turned away from the embarrassing scene. An annoyed breath escaped his mouth. "Our only option would be to find a kendô practitioner." To his extreme discomfort, Lee's red face appeared directly in front of his own. Sasuke quickly turned away before those teeth blinded him.

"Do not fear, Sasuke-kun," Lee affirmed, "I shall do my utmost to find a worthy candidate!"

Naruto began to have an ominous feeling. "Wait, Lee—" The beautiful green beast of Konoha went off in a dash. Lee stumbled a few times, but he managed to barely miss each street sign and lamppost that threatened to smack him straight in the head. Naruto watched the retreating cloud of dust with concern. "Um, Sasuke..." the blond scratched his head. "Don't you think Lee is acting a bit strangely?"

"He's acting like an imbecile. Which is normal." The raven-haired chuunin shoved his fists into his pockets. Inside, Sasuke was planning on how to get into that heavily guarded arena without actually getting caught. He just had to get close enough to Number 15 for an unmasking. It would be short, and _sweet_.

A new voice entered the conversation. "Excuse me. Did you say you need a kendô practitioner?"

Naruto and Sasuke turned. Against the alley's wall, a figure in loose robes stood. From the green hat and wide turtleneck, Sasuke recognized him as the rounin sitting in the restaurant.

"Now THAT'S way too convenient," Naruto grumbled, turning away from the guy.

The straw-hat rounin seemed to grow irritated at this comment. "Is that any way to thank help when it is offered?" his tenor voice warbled. His crossed his arms, tightening his thin but well-sculpted muscles. "Loudmouth."

Naruto grit his teeth. "Why, you—"

Sasuke lightly hit his rival in the shoulder, silencing him. The Uchiha then studied the rounin from head to toe. "You need a shinobi for the competition," Sasuke stated. His obsidian eyes narrowed in suspicion. He really wanted to challenge him, why he was entering at all. After all, the bartender had informed Sasuke that the rounin was partially blind. Instead of mentioning anything touchy like a disability, Sasuke asked, "Why didn't you hire a shinobi beforehand, like the others?"

The rounin breathed, as if pausing for an upcoming monologue. "Just for the fun of it," he answered calmly. "At first, I only came to observe other participants. But it would be good to de-rust my kendô arms." The corners of his mouth were visible above the green turtleneck, almost showing a flat grin of amusement. "And seeing you so pathetic and hopeless in that bar..."

Sasuke's right hand slowly reached for a kunai, as if itching for bloodshed. "Are you mocking me?" He was beginning to doubt whether this man was really all that disabled. The bastard might be a ninja himself. "Who sent you?"

The rounin seemed to gulp at the Uchiha's subtle interrogation. But any hint of fear vanished as he touched the katana's hilt at his waist. "I myself. It was my decision alone to ask you." The grip on his sword sent the clear enough message, that he would retaliate if Sasuke attacked.

Sasuke had to refrain from rolling his eyes. 'He's got to be a rounin, if he thinks one katana is enough to defend himself against a shinobi. Damn samurai with their pride, even when they're dirt-poor.' Yet this rounin was his only chance to get into the tournament. The raven-haired chuunin sighed. Sasuke straightened his body posture, and let the kunai slide back into its case with a stop. "You've got the Mark, whatever it is?" He saw the rounin nod in response. "Then come. We're going to register."

The rounin loosened his stance. But he did not take a step from his spot.

Sasuke irritably turned his head. "Just so you know, I don't need your pay!" he burst out, his head still throbbing from the migraine. "You've already probably got it tough as a rounin!"

The other tilted his brow downward, hiding his light-brown hair with the green hat. "Oh... Thanks."

Sasuke only shrugged, and led the way. He was probably doing more of a favor for the rounin, rather than the other way around. The diagnosis of that specific blindness had only been several years ago, from what Sasuke remembered. (He had fallen into reading medical pamphlets while he was cooped up in the hospital.) Sasuke could just imagine it: the samurai probably began studying kendô as a child, received this blindness of which there was no real cure, and then degenerated into a penniless rounin. With the only recent discovery that red-tinted glasses fixed his vision, this tournament was probably a reviving experience for his past kendô skills.

Naruto only stood, amazed. Sasuke was offering to help a random person off the street without pay. 'Man, Sasuke must be desperate to get in.' He walked past the two. "I'll be standing guard outside the arena," he whispered at Sasuke. Sasuke only nodded.

* * *

Tenten stood outside the changing house, waiting patiently for Ichirou to come out. She checked her watch, wondering if his allowed ten minutes were up.

"Sorry I'm late!" Ichirou took sharp intakes of breath, already sweating within the bulky kendô-armor strapped on him. Because of time constraint, he decided to save tying on the helmet mask until he was out in good daylight. He had the number '21' tied on his shoulder.

"You've got the plan down, right?" Tenten asked, pulling the helmet out of Ichirou's arms to get his full attention. Her face leaned towards his in a serious manner. "Don't run away if you can help it. I'll have a more difficult time concentrating on possible attacks on you if you scurry around." She gave a reassuring smile to him. "In other words, just be natural."

"Yes. Natural." Ichirou sweated. 'But for me, running away _is_ natural,' his inner self cried out.

Tenten suddenly pointed at someone behind him. "Hey! What are YOU doing here?"

Ichirou turned around. There stood Uchiha Sasuke, next to a kendô practitioner who was already dressed in the full armor. "We're entering," the ninja said simply.

Tenten crossed her arms. She had thought Sasuke as a cute little genius when he was twelve — but now he was almost ticking her off. "How could you possibly sign up so quickly?"

To her surprise, Sasuke grabbed Tenten by the shoulder, and pulled her to the side. "Ichirou," Sasuke said, not even giving attention to his own samurai, "we're having a private talk." Ichirou nodded quickly and came closer, while the rounin just leaned his back against the wall. Sasuke then turned back to the brown-haired kunoichi. "Keep your eyes focused on Number 15," he ordered. When he recognized her grumpy look, he added silently: "Lee's orders."

"Is that any reason why you've allied yourself to some random samurai?" Tenten shot back. "You're helping a potential _enemy!"_

"He's not an enemy," Sasuke answered. "He's blind."

"Blind?" Tenten ignored the sharp hush from Sasuke. "Then why is he entering a kendô contest?"

"He's... _partially_ blind. He needs red-tinted glasses." Reading the skepticism in Tenten's face, Sasuke only grit his teeth. "Fine. I alone will look to Number 15."

"You're concentrating on Number 28," Tenten corrected, referring to the rounin that Sasuke was accompanying.

"Yeah, him too." It was a minor detail, at least to Sasuke's mind. He could double-task if need be. And this was really a need-be situation. He was _that_ close to Sakura! Naruto was guarding the outside, so there was really no escape left for her.

The other contestants around them, who had been working with their uniforms and getting the tags on, seemed to grow fewer in number. Tenten and Sasuke first guessed it was because the time of the matches were approaching soon — but it turned out that the contestants drew away from the middle, as if a greater presence was coming in.

"Ichirou-kun!" a joyous voice exclaimed. "What a lucky coincidence it is to see you!"

Ichirou's eyes widened in shock. His helmet-mask clattered to the ground. A tall, black-haired adult grasped him around the shoulders. Tenten could tell that Ichirou was shaking in the knees.

"Jouji-san?" Ichirou squeaked at the man.

Tenten was tempted to pull several kunai out and throw them at this Jouji. But that might put Ichirou at risk of being hit himself; not to mention, it was illegal to attack participants prior to the actual tournament. Jouji had on the kendô armor with the number '12' patched on.

Jouji looked from the small head tucked within his right arm, and up to Tenten. "Aww, Ichirou-kun, you got a kunoichi to accompany you for this contest? How _cute_." Jouji, like Ichirou, had his hair in a samurai-style ponytail. The difference was that it was a sleek raven black.

"Let go of Ichirou-san!" Tenten demanded.

"Why should I?" Jouji ruffled Ichirou's brown hair, which only seemed to terrify the boy even more. "He's my little brother. No matter if he's only..."

He suddenly felt nothing but thin air in his arm. Sasuke appeared to Tenten's side, holding the pale-faced Ichirou by the shoulders. The raven-haired chuunin had separated Ichirou from Jouji without any physical violence.

Jouji's smile was not wiped out with this gesture. In fact, it seemed to grow with sinister glee. "You ninja ought to keep out of family affairs," the older samurai said with a curled lip. He walked off with his own ninja from the Cloud. His hand waved back as he swept through the arena doors. "Good luck, Ichirou-kun."

"_Brother_?" Tenten turned to the quivering Ichirou. "I thought you said your older brothers weren't allowed in tournaments like these!"

"They're my half-brothers," Ichirou corrected. "Ichigi-niisan is the firstborn and heir. Jouji-san is the second — he's recently left the household, so I guess he'd be more independent now to enter tournaments like this." His expression seemed gloomier than ever. "I was born of a different mother."

Sasuke paused. From the beginning, he had thought it was odd that Ichirou had the number 'one' in his name, even when he clearly had stated to the Hokage that he was a third son. _Ichi_gi and _Ichi_rou. The first sons of each woman. Not to mention, the name Jouji had the kanji for number 'two' in it. Sasuke made a mental note that Jouji might turn out extra violent against Ichirou during the contest.

"But you're still a son of the daimyo!" Tenten insisted. "That ought to guarentee you _some_ respect from your brothers!"

Ichirou shook his head. "No. I technically shouldn't have ever come into the household." He looked down in slight shame. "You see... I'm a product of play."

Tenten blinked. "A product of play?" she repeated. Sasuke, although he hid it well, was equally clueless. Ichirou simply blushed.

The straw-hat rounin, who had until now been completely silent, gave an almost irritated grunt through his helmet-mask. "It means his mother was a prostitute."

Tenten and Sasuke both looked up in surprise at this revelation about Ichirou. They kept straight faces, thankfully. Ichirou rubbed his eyes. "Um, yes. My mother had been my father's lover... and he bought her to freedom." The young samurai gulped. "She raised me while working as a waitress. But when she died when I was ten, my father took me into his household. That's how I met my brothers, and my stepmother." He read Tenten's face. "Oh, it's not too bad. My stepmother treated me civilly, and so does Ichigi-niisan."

The rounin walked up to the down-faced Ichirou, and gave him a pat on the back. "Don't let that Jouji get to you," he said. "I've experienced bureaucratic types like him. They only fain control on others by focusing on irrelevant details. In truth, they can't recognize ability for what it is."

"Reminds me of the ANBU-trainer," Sasuke muttered under his breath.

Tenten glanced at him. "What?"

Sasuke turned his head slightly lower. "Nothing."

"Hey, YOU MORONS!" the referee yelled at the four of them from the open door. "Get out there if you want to participate!" The two teams hastily ran towards the arena's entrance before they could get disqualified.

* * *

Minoru yawned as he watched the kyudo contest pass on. It was a good thing he only came to watch. For a contest of mostly amateurs coming from rural areas, it wasn't too bad of an archery display. But had Minoru entered the competition himself, he would have mercilessly creamed everyone.

He mouthed a few words in his elfin tongue. His brain telepathically connected to Potamos. 'Is everything according to schedule?' Minoru asked.

'Yuppers!' he heard her sing. 'Sacchan is jittery, too. And what's cooler is that her friends from the Leaf don't even notice her! I mean, they're _right_ in the same arena with her!'

Minoru stilled. His heart began to pound faster. 'Which... friends, do you mean?' He began to make his way towards the arena, in which the samurai-ninja double teams would start in exactly ten minutes.

'Definitely the Jealous Prick is here!' Potamos chimed. 'And I think I passed the Spiky Blond earlier in the streets...'

Minoru exhaled. 'Make sure to watch for Sakura-san's safety.'

'Roger!'

Minoru felt the telepathy disconnect. Walking quicker, he made a turn around a wooden fence. The elf mentally shuffled through the information Potamos had given him. Minoru sort of had been expecting a meeting of this sort — on rare occasions, he could foresee a few things in his dreams. But according to his predictions, it was way too early for Sakura to confront her past friends. 'The Jealous Prick is definitely Uchiha Sasuke,' Minoru pondered. 'But who is the other one that Potamos mentioned? Spiky Blond?'

Minoru stepped around a corner. The arena's entrance, a simple wooden gateway, was ten meters before him. He noticed someone standing at the foot of the gateway: a teenager with yellow, uneven hair. He had a Leaf hitai-ate tied on his forehead. And that bold-colored jumpsuit was nearly impossible to forget.

The taller blond turned his heels, and began to walk in the opposite direction. Minoru kept his calm as he retreated, the once-runaway elf that he was. Never mind that the shinobi he just saw, and who _maybe_ spotted him, was one of Sakura's former teammates in her younger days.

"HEY!" Naruto shouted, running after him.

'Shoot!' Minoru was now sprinting through the mass of people.

"STOP THAT BLONDE WOMAN IN THE BLUE DRESS!" Naruto shouted in sudden fury. Now he was _sure_ that Sakura was here.

A green blur appeared next to Naruto. It was a leg. There was a loud thwack in Naruto's ears. The blue-eyed shinobi sprawled on the ground, and hastily got up with a bruise on his cheek. "Lee?"

"Narutooo..." Lee swayed. "How dare you attack and run after a lady..."

"Lee, that was Sakura-chan's OTHER teammate!" Naruto shouted.

"SHUDDAP!" the martial artist roared. His limbs tangled and untangled around each other, like threads of a magician's knot.

Minoru winced as glanced back for a brief moment. 'Such ugliness!' he commented upon the spandex-suit who had just pounced upon his chaser. 'He gives a terrible image to the color green!' Thus free, the blond elf took his retreat. Minoru soon heard a human scream in the background.

He was pretty safe, Minoru decided. All he had to hope was for Sakura to get out in time.

* * *

'What. The. Hell.'

Tenten stood in the arena. Already in the first match, Ichirou was standing before his older brother Jouji. The brown-haired kunoichi vaguely wondered if some person rigged this whole contest on intent of humiliating her and her client. First Sasuke butted in with a rounin he scrapped off the road, and now a half-brother who hated Ichirou's guts?

From how terrified Ichirou had been when his older brother embraced him, Tenten guessed that Jouji regularly had harassed the boy when they were younger. That made the kunoichi inwardly boil. It wasn't Ichirou's fault for being a lovechild.

But what annoyed her even further was that around thirty double-teams were crammed into a tiny arena. There weren't any stands; there was just a fence to separate the excited spectators from the double teams. It looked more like a rumble ground than a sporting event.

The referee tapped his microphone. He closed his eyes as an unbearably long and high-pitched squeak decided to reverberate from it. When it was over, he cleared his throat.

_"Welcome to the event of the samurai-ninja double teams,"_ his voice echoed through the speakers. _"As usual, the rules for kendô will be applied for strikes. But any movement that is deemed a penalty in regular kendô duels — such as trips, insults, or taking another's weapon — is allowed here. In other words, a free style._" The referee gestured towards a long table, at which sat seven grim-looking people. _"Amidst these seven judges, four will judge the samurai and how they handle their kendô duels. Three of them will judge the ninja."_

Tenten leaned forward to Ichirou. "They give us separate scores?"

"They give one score for the samurai, one score for the ninja. Those two add up to a team total score." Ichirou's voice was still uneven and low in the presence of his older brother. "They give prizes for individual performance, too." A forced chuckle came from the young samurai. "So even if I do terribly, Tenten-san, you still have a chance to be recognized as a ninja."

Tenten interlaced her fingers, and stretched out her arms. "I don't really care about awards. Let's just both do our best. Right?" She gave him a cute smile, unwittingly causing Ichirou to slightly flush in the cheeks. Ichirou was just glad that he had a mask on.

_"Finally,_" the referee intoned, "_There will be NO timing out._" He gave a sadistic smile. "_Until, of course, the right number of people are injured._" The audience responded with a cheer. "_The siren will sound at the beginning and end of each round._"

Sasuke made a face as he heard the whooping crowd. 'So there's truth in the saying. Those who're least experienced in war are the most excited to watch it.' He glanced to the far left: the kunoichi with curly, lavender-colored hair stood with her charge, Number 15. Sasuke cursed that he could not just walk up and grab that so-called-samurai. But he could only get closer once the round actually started.

_"First round: all contestants, all out._"

The thoughts of Tenten and Sasuke skidded to a halt at his announcement. All contestants, all out?

The referee grinned. 'The first round is always arranged to clean out the scum.' The siren buzzed.

There was pandemonium. The kendô practitioners crashed against each other. Jouji ran towards Ichirou with a yell. Ichirou let off a gasp of horror, before hastily crouching down in his bulky kendô uniform. Jouji tripped over his younger brother. Tenten's eyes widened as Jouji's shinai — a bamboo practice sword used for kendô matches — went after _her_. With a careful twist of her legs, she stepped aside. The kunoichi felt a shuriken whiz past, cutting a few strands of hair from her chestnut bangs.

Her head turned slightly around: a ninja behind Tenten lashed out at her with a kunai. Her arm flung out with her own kunai to deflect it. She then firmly gripped the handle, and aimed to stab the ninja with it.

Tenten blinked. Instead of the ninja who had attacked her, some random kendô practitioner was barely at the point of her weapon. The ninja had switched himself with another samurai using the Kawarimi no Jutsu. She shoved the armor-clad man away. Her brown eyes trailed back on the ninja. From his hitai-ate, he was from the Hidden Stone, an Iwa-nin. He had attacked her, almost made her stab another samurai — she was pissed! How dare he try to lower her points with such cheap shots?

"What gives with that Kawarimi?" she yelled at him.

"It's called a set-up." The Iwa-nin began making some hand-seals. His eyes turned dilated with shock the next second: Tenten's kunai hit square on his forehead.

The brown-haired kunoichi huffed, twirling a second kunai onto her thumb. She didn't care that a few spectators gasped in horror in the stands, having watched a female teenager like her throwing a knife right between a guy's eyebrows. 'Besides, his forehead protector probably blocked it. Or he escaped...' The kunoichi saw the fallen body disappear into the dusty ground. 'Yup. He just ran away.' Tenten sprinted right back to Ichirou, and put her back against his. "Have you hit anyone yet?" she called at him.

"Just one strike," Ichirou said with a gasp, his voice a little steadier than before. "I've blocked most attacks from the shinai, but..." He gasped when Tenten threw a kunai, flicking off another that had been coming towards them.

A shadow fell upon Ichirou. He looked up, and saw another shinai drop towards his head. Its wielder was Number 12 — Jouji again. Ichirou raised his own shinai upward, blocking his half-brother's attack.

"Forgot about me, Ichirou?" Jouji's voice seethed through the mask. "You think you're so smart by running..."

Tenten grit her teeth. Her calloused fingers flicked the air in front of her, drawing out a senbon from the air. 'The shinobi are throwing weapons from hidden areas, hoping to take out other contestants without getting caught,' she realized. She turned to Ichirou, who was in a deadlock with Jouji. "Ichirou-san, I'll give you some room," Tenten said quickly, before running off.

Ichirou felt his grip faltering. "Wait, Tenten-san!"

"Are you going to depend on a _girl_?" Jouji asked, his shinai shaking against Ichirou's.

Just then, there was a loud thwack that hit Jouji's ears — and head. Another samurai had hit the back of his head. It was an illegal move in a real kendô duel... but this was not exactly real kendô to begin with. Jouji swung his shinai to the offender, Number 28 — the straw-hat rounin. The rounin pushed away Jouji's strike with his own bamboo sword.

Meanwhile, Sasuke kicked up Jouji's assigned ninja into the air. His body twisted upward, punching and kicking, and finished with three kicks that were already impeccably choreographed. 'Shi Shi Rendan!' (Lion Combo)

"Hey!" Jouji shouted. "Two teams against one is —"

He was silenced by another thwack. This time, it was from Ichirou. "There's nothing illegal with two samurai against one," Ichirou said through his mask, his voice suddenly more confident. "It's all teams, all out."

Jouji's eyes flashed in anger. He suddenly kicked Ichirou in the chest, sending his younger brother sprawling on the ground. He next threw the rounin back with a harsh palm-strike. The rounin managed to skid back on his zori-sandals from the blow. For a tall samurai in bulky kendô armor, Jouji could move around quite well.

"Ichirou-san!" Tenten landed next to Ichirou's form. "I'm sorry; I was catching weapons from the side." She now had ropes around her, which held at least fifty kunai and shuriken she had collected. "Where are these _coming_ from, anyway?"

"You'll never be able to use those," Sasuke pointed out.

"Better me holding them than others using them!" Tenten snapped, the weapons clinking around her bodice.

Sasuke noticed that the ninja, who had just received his Shi Shi Rendan, was up and sneaking around — more specifically, towards the straw-hat rounin. 'I knew that last kick didn't feel right,' Sasuke thought. 'He probably did some sort of replacement technique to avoid the final blow...'

"Fifteen... Fifteen..." Sasuke glanced around for any sign of his target. Neither Number 15 nor the purple-haired kunoichi were anywhere to be seen. In fact, the other half of the arena was unreadable: a heavy cloud enshrouded the fighters. Whether it was a ninja-activated mist, smoke bomb, or simply upturned dust from all the scuffling, Sasuke could not tell. Frustrated with his present vision, he charged up his Sharingan.

Sasuke's red eyes blinked at the cloud. Although he saw the shapes of bodies emitting chakra, he still could not read the number-tags on the samurai.

Sasuke turned. He saw that his accompanying rounin was carefully dodging each and every swing that Jouji was throwing at him. Apparently, Jouji had decided to ignore his weakened brother for a moment, in favor for going at the blind guy. '_Partially_ blind,' Sasuke's inwardly corrected. 'If he were completely so, he wouldn't be able to compete.'

A sphere came whirling through the air. It looked like a smoke bomb. It was coming towards the rounin. 'Shit,' Sasuke thought. He instilled chakra in his feet, and sped up towards his charge. 'How many random items are coming into this place?'

The bomb detonated. Sasuke grabbed the rounin just when the smoke filled the air. A sharp sting went into his nose. He pulled his client to get them out; three steps, he calculated.

'Shit!' Sasuke coughed out, as soon as he realized how far the smoke reached. He and the rounin were still in the smokescreen.

Suddenly, a hand grasped over Sasuke's mouth, and fingers squeezed his nose. Hard. Sasuke reddened eyes glanced towards the person who was holding his airway shut. It was the rounin, his own charge. 'He's trying to suffocate me!' Sasuke thought in fury.

The rounin then shoved Sasuke off. Hitting the ground, the raven-haired shinobi automatically gasped for air — and realized that it was clean.

The rounin leaped out of the smoke cloud after him. He stumbled next to Sasuke. Sasuke, coughing out, recognized the particular taste in his mouth. His eyes turned back into the normal obsidian. 'That was poison smoke.' He turned to the rounin with partial amazement. 'That's right; people who lose one sense get stronger in the others... He may have regained his sight, but his other senses are still sharper than average.'

"I'm — fine," the rounin wheezed. He drew up a kendô stance, twisted around, and flipped an incoming samurai over his heels, using the shinai as a torque. He coughed several times. "You needed to see Number 15, you said?" He pointed sideways. "He's over there."

Sasuke's dark eyes caught a black sleeve. Sure enough, there was the kendô practitioner with the number '15' tag. The small kunoichi with purple hair was nearby, dancing away from metal spikes that were spontaneously bursting from the ground.

Number 15 took another opponent's shinai by its handle, and flung it against him. The bamboo shattered against the armor. The opponent samurai fainted from mere shock. Number 15 sighed, as if bored.

Amidst the flying pieces, however, a dark-eyed ninja appeared. Sasuke smirked, as he heard the samurai let off an almost feminine gasp.

He reached for the helmet-mask, his dark eyes gleaming in victory. "Got you!" Sasuke hissed through his teeth.

The siren went off. "_Time!_" the referee called through the speakers.

The samurai leaned back, and flicked Sasuke's fingers away with the shinai. The purple-haired kunoichi tripped him with a lower kick, never mind the round was already over. Sasuke fell flat on his nose.

Sasuke watched as Number 15 and the purple-haired kunoichi hastily retreat to the sidelines, the former _skipping_ off. 'DAMN IT!' Sasuke's inner pride roared. He had been so close!

The rounin walked to Sasuke's tripped form, and tilted his helmet-mask downward. "Are you okay?"

"Just PEACHY," came the sarcastic response.

"The qualifications for continuing to the second round is consciousness, and lack of major injuries," the referee announced. "The next round is in five minutes."

* * *

Notes:

"Sogo Sakura" - Known as Sogo Sakura, his real name was Sogoro Keichi, and he was head of Kozumura Village (now Kozu-Narita city). He went to Edo (Tokyo) to make a direct appeal to the shogun to help ease the peasants' burden of the taxes and bad crops. Because such a move was illegal, he was arrested, and he later was executed with his four sons. This is both a historical record and a legend of Japan — but I was so touched by the story that I decided to have it as a legend in Naruto's world as well. (It seemed acceptable to put in, since Sarutobi Sasuke is also a Japanese historical figure.)

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	34. Double Teams

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own the cheer "Fight, Ippatsu"; that is from a sports drink ad. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Over a month now since my last update. Pathetic, isn't it? But I seem to be doing well in school, at least still standing on the tight rope. And by some odd chance, I'm having a good season in swimming this school year. I even beat my highschool friend and rival in a duel meet. (It took me eight years, to advance four hundredths-of-a-second ahead of her in the 100 butterfly. We both got extremely good times.)

An even bigger reason of my tardiness was probably due to a plot twist. But I won't give it away. Instead, on with the story!

"Quotations"

'Thoughts'

((Flashback))

Chapter 34: Double Teams

* * *

The first round, although chaotic, turned out all right in the opinion of Sasuke and Tenten. For one, nobody died. Out of the thirty original contestants, seven had survived enough injury to keep on going. And now that the initial 'cleaning-out' was over, real duels would compose the rest of the event: each samurai would fight four other opponents, drawn at random, and their total score by the judges would determine their placements.

Sasuke glared down the hallway of leftover contestants. Number 15 was on the other end of the roped-out rest area, obviously avoiding him. The purple-haired kunoichi was also annoying, eyes darting around, checking for would-be ambushes from other ninja — but she was also keeping her eyes on Sasuke. She knew that he was after her client, thanks to his not-so-discreet attempt to unmask Number 15.

The referee clapped his hands for attention. "Break's over!" he called out. "Get to your stations; we want to do this quick."

At that moment, the purple-haired kunoichi leaned out of her client's shadow, and stuck a tongue out at Sasuke. His hands itched to choke her.

The straw-hat rounin stood behind the brooding Uchiha. He reviewed his swordsmanship, carefully lifting up and swinging down the bamboo shinai. "You can ignore that girl, you know."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke feigned disinterest like any good ninja. To read the area assignments, Sasuke leaned over the other's shoulder — perhaps a bit too suddenly, for the rounin jerked in nervousness. "Square A," Sasuke intoned. "Let's get there."

The rounin tightened his grip on the shinai, as if angered that a ninja was ordering him around. But he relaxed. He followed Sasuke quietly. He shook with an occasional cough, a result from inhaling a bit of the poison smoke.

"Can you still go on?" Sasuke asked, after a few more hacks escaped from the rounin. If he weren't mistaken, that sounded painful.

"I can," was the stubborn answer. The poor samurai's voice cracked a little higher in octave, but he coughed it back down. He set a foot on the tape border. He ground the dust a bit with his zori-sandals, before walking over to the taped 'X' of where he was supposed to start. He then turned to the sub-referee. "Isn't this starting position... a little too far away from the center?"

"It's adjusted for this event," the sub-referee answered. "It gives you more starting distance from your opponent." His eyes darted to the other side of the fighting square. "Gives room for the ninja, too."

Realizing that his palms were sweating, Sasuke unclenched his hands. Sure, he had to get to Number 15, who was in another square. But he also felt a little obliged to pay stronger attention to the rounin, his temporary client. Was it perhaps... thankfulness? It was due to the rounin's hospitality that he could enter this contest to find Sakura, after all. Or it was just that Sasuke wanted to prove himself somewhat competent as a ninja in public. Just a little.

The sub-referee held out his hand between the two samurai, even though there was a great distance between them already. "Like in regular kendô, the winner is decided by two wins out of three attempts," he announced to both sides. "Got it?"

Sasuke's dark eyes caught something. The opponent samurai was static as a perched bird — but the hired ninja behind him was making hand-seals. Before the match even started.

Sasuke felt his tongue twist like a corkscrew. Perhaps alerting the referee was in order. But he had never verbally reported cheating to a referee before. In almost any fight Sasuke experienced, tattling was not only futile, but also pathetic. Ninja didn't care about rules, as long as they weren't caught.

"First match," the referee announced. "Go!"

Almost immediately, a slight haze enveloped the square. Even with normal vision, Sasuke quickly identified the mist: 'Genjutsu.' Sasuke held one hand in half of a Tiger-In, while he flicked a kunai in the other. "Wake up!" he shouted at the rounin.

There was no reaction. With a growl, Sasuke threw the kunai at his own client. Sure, it would be painful, but at least the illusion would disperse.

A pained grunt escaped the rounin: Sasuke's blade landed in his shoulder armor. The weapon had not penetrated deep enough to make content with flesh — it had rather been the shock of Sasuke 'attacking' him that got his attention. The rounin spun his head at Sasuke. "What are you DOING?"

"I told you to wake up," Sasuke answered, his eyes impassive as always. He yanked out the kunai from the armor, and backed away.

"I already was awake!" The rounin stepped to the side, just as the opponent samurai was charging at him.

There was the initial jerk in Sasuke's legs, an automatic response to protect his client. But he held his ground; this was, basically, a duel between the two samurai. 'Come on, come on...'

_Clunk_.

"One!" the supervisor called out. The rounin lifted the bamboo from the top of his opponent's head.

Sasuke almost raised an eyebrow. He already had hoped that his client was modestly experienced; but as it turned out, this straw-hat was pretty good. The clean and efficient movements of the rounin suggested good training in not only kendô, but iaidô as well.

"That... was okay," Sasuke muttered, stepping up behind the rounin.

The man stilled, as if bewildered. But then he turned his head away, as if such a comment from a ninja held little worth. "Don't jinx me."

Without warning, the supervisor raised his hand. "Second match, go!"

Sasuke and the rounin jerked at this sudden announcement. Who knew that the supervisor wouldn't wait for them to get back into a ready position? The opponent samurai charged forward, and parried the straw-hat rounin with a series of uppercuts. "HAH!" The rounin blocked each swing — but at the rate he was being pushed backward, his feet neared slowly towards the taped-off border. "Hah! Hah!"

Sasuke watched as the opponent throw down his shinai, one swing after the other. If Sasuke had not learned the basics of kendô rules, he would have thought shouting while attacking was dumb. According to what he read, the kiai-shout was supposed to put more spirit into the attack.

The rounin's stance tightened, strike after strike. The other samurai paused for a slight moment, tired from his long series of thrusts. That was when the rounin loosened his torso. He crouched down, and lowered his shinai. In an even tone, he voiced out: "Mai."

'That's the word for drawing out the sword quickly,' Sasuke remembered. 'The art of iaidô.'

The raven-haired shinobi then saw a bump in the ground, near the rounin's feet. It was moving. There was a HAND coming out of the earth, and reaching to his client. Sasuke felt his knees give way.

The rounin let off a gasp. There was a red spurt. And then a scream.

Sasuke lay on the ground, his head between the rounin's two feet, and holding a kunai sunk into the other ninja's hand. The rounin held his bamboo-sword on his opponent's shoulder, concluding the spar with a second win.

But was it ever such an odd position. The edge of the rounin's hakama-pants hung only a few centimeters away from Sasuke's spiky hair. "Close," the supervisor muttered. "Another move, and the Chicken Hair would have had fifty points off."

'Who the hell is he calling Chicken Hair?' Sasuke yanked out the kunai, making the other ninja scream again. The two samurai, both victor and loser, immediately drew back from the renewed gush of blood.

"You didn't have to do that," the rounin muttered, watching Sasuke dust himself off. He pointed at the scarlet-dripping kunai. "And clean that thing. Who knows what diseases that other ninja has."

Sasuke shook the kunai, making the blood flick off. "Get used to it."

* * *

The red glow of the sun streamed through the open window. A low hum of grinding came from a corner of the Hyuuga mansion, almost hypnotizing in its steady repetition.

Hinata loosened her grip, pausing in her small labor of grinding herbs. She lifted the pestle, and frowned. There were still a few moist pieces sticking together in small lumps. 'So three days wasn't enough drying time.' She set the mortar aside, wondering if flaming the herbs would dehydrate it. 'But then it might burn and stick...'

The hallway door slid open. Hanabi poked her head in. "Onee-sama!" She dug into a cloth bag, and pulled a flexible bottle out. "Grapeseed oil from the eastern borders. A week ago, you said we ran out..."

Hinata looked confused for a moment. "Grapeseed... oh!" She gratefully took the bottle from Hanabi. "Thank you. I didn't expect it so early in the year."

"They only had the old stuff on stock," Hanabi mumbled, ashamed that she bought something at a cheaper price. "Probably making room for the next harvest."

Hinata waved it off. "Oil lasts long, so age makes no difference." She took out clean mortars, and several other bottles from her cabinet. She squirted half of the grapeseed oil into a mortar, and began heating it over a flame. Sweat soaked her midnight-blue hair to a nearly charcoal black, as she added ingredient after ingredient. In Hanabi's eyes, her older sister looked like a determined chemist.

Hanabi stared at the thick, yellow soup that resulted. "So... who's it for?"

Hinata took the mortar off the flame. "It's for you."

Hanabi sat still. "You gave me enough healing ointment to last two years!" Hanabi said, complaint in her voice.

Hinata gave a gentle laugh. "It's not medicine," she said. "It'll become massage cream when it cools down and hardens. I added mint and eucalyptus, since you like those."

Hanabi looked surprised for a moment. An almost guilty-looking smile came upon her. "Thank you, Onee-sama." She usually avoided cosmetic oils, primarily because the ones from the store made her skin inflame. The only type that was safe for her was the homemade ones Hinata could whip up — and even there, Hanabi didn't like using it because of the lavender inside. It was too delicate and soapy of a smell for Hanabi. Hinata had inevitably noticed this difference of taste.

Hanabi leaned her head over the mortar. "When will it be ready?" she asked, already smelling the crisp mint.

"Soon." Hinata set another cup on the table. It was actually an old cosmetic jar, which an aunt from a branch family tossed out. With tongs, Hinata picked up the hot mortar off the fire, and poured the oily mixture into the clean jar. The mixture slowly stiffened at the touch of the cold glass. After two minutes, the hardened surface glistened like the smoothest honey. Hinata scraped a little off with her nail, and tested the material between her fingers. "It should act the same as my previous batches," Hinata said. She turned to her sister. "But if it gives your skin any irritation, just stop using it. All right?"

Hanabi nodded. She now was facing the opposite wall, oddly enough. Hinata thought nothing of this as she sealed the cap onto the jar — Hanabi tended to space out in this room anyway. It was a mysterious yet cozy atmosphere, with the fireplace, drying herbs, and dark lighting.

"Onee-sama." Hanabi turned her head around. "The clan elders..."

Hinata set the dirty chemistry-ware into the sink. "Hmm?" She looked up, and her light-colored eyes froze: Hanabi had the Byakugan on.

"The elders," Hanabi whispered, nervous blood pumped through the veins around her cheeks. "Warehouse..."

Hinata leaned over the working table. "What are you talking about, Hanabi?"

"Chichi-ue and four other elders are standing inside the warehouse." Hanabi's arms folded inwards, as if she were a burglar on the edge of getting caught. "They seemed to be in some sort of discussion..."

Without another word, Hinata's hands flickered together, preparing to see what Hanabi saw. While it wasn't necessary anymore for Hinata to use hand-seals for bring out her bloodline limit, that method preserved energy as opposed to just mentally forcing it. 'Byakugan!'

The veins spread around her cheekbones. Hinata's vision zoomed out of the chemistry room, through the hallways, and finally to the training ground. The warehouse sat in the corner of the yard, whose dry yellow grass was slowly turning green. Her sight focused on the tiny building, squeezing through its walls, and the shelves of boxes coating its inner frame. Just as Hanabi informed her, there were several elders talking inside. Hiashi stood, his arms crossed and lips tight.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Hanabi asked. She observed her father, quiet and none-responsive, while the other elders spoke to him with the quiet animation of wolves. "It must be serious, if they didn't even invite us or Neji-san."

At that moment, one of the elders turned around, facing the direction in which Hinata and Hanabi stood. The girls immediately plugged off their flow of chakra to their eyes, deactivating the Byakugan.

Hanabi plopped down on the floor, keeping her face even. "Do you think they noticed us?"

"I don't think so." Hinata proceeded to clean the grinding tools. Spray, scrub with detergent, and rinse again. Then rinse out with distilled water, three times. 'Routine,' Hinata chanted out. 'I have to follow routine to look normal...' She shivered, remembering that elder's blank face.

Hinata took one small glance over a shoulder. Her little sister was already testing the massage cream on her elbows, with the unsure awe of a little girl trying on her mother's cosmetics. 'Hanabi will have to be strong on her own soon,' the Priestess mused to herself. 'She's been doting on me, just like when she was doting on Otou-san during her initial training.'

* * *

Tenten crossed her arms. The ropes of collected weapons around her shoulders and waist clinked like chimes. She had confident experience to carry sharp objects in such a manner, as long as she never tucked or curled her body.

"Fight!" she called out. Tenten then waited for Ichirou to say the second part of the famous chant. Nothing came. She turned around. " 'Ippatsu', Ichirou-san!" Tenten reminded him. "Ippatsu!"

"That's just an ad, Tenten-san." Ichirou nervously gripped his shinai. He had just gone through two duels — he won both. But even after a win, his anxiety would spike up when lots were being cast of the next match-ups. He was sure that if he squared off with Jouji, his brother would either try to crush his ribs, or order his ninja to do it for him.

Then again, whenever Ichirou was on the floor, he felt more confident than he ever did in real life. That was why he liked kendô so much. He hated wearing a real sword whenever he stepped outside of the house; it reminded him that he could hurt, and be hurt in turn. The _sport_ of kendô required just a bamboo stick. If he did encounter his brother in this event, maybe...

"So what?" Tenten asked. " 'Fight, Ippatsu' is still a good cheer!" The brown-haired kunoichi tossed three kunai up in the air. She began juggling them, with an alarmingly blissful look on her face. 'Besides, I didn't get to have this much fun on a mission while Neji was around,' she thought as the weapons spun and glinted in front of her.

"Please stop that!" a worried Ichirou cried out. Tenten, obedient to her client, forked the weapons out of the air without so much as a scratch on her palm.

"Awww, that looked fun..." another voice said.

Tenten and Ichirou turned to meet their third opponent team. The kunoichi with the curly, purple bob waved cheerfully at Tenten. Next to her stood Number 15, the samurai whom Sasuke had ordered Tenten to watch.

Tenten frowned. The opponent kunoichi was bizarre, with her hair color and childlike voice. But what was so special about the samurai?

"First match," the supervisor announced. He threw his hand down. "Go!"

"Bye!" Potamos shot her hand up, and enveloped herself in a whirl of mist. Within two seconds, the haze dispersed, and she was gone.

Number 15 was startled at this. "What?"

Tenten and Ichirou were also dumbfounded. But each for difference reasons. Ichirou, like Number 15, was just taken aback at her sudden retreat. Tenten, on the other hand, was concerned with the voice behind mask: that pitch was too high to be that of a man. More like an alto woman.

"Don't just stand there!" Tenten snapped at Ichirou. "Charge!"

Ichirou got out of his daze, and ran towards the incoming Number 15. "HaaAAH!"

The teenager then felt something cut his cheek. His helmet-mask dropped to the ground.

Tenten's jaw dropped slightly. 'What?'

A sharp, crystalline edge glistened near Ichirou's cheek. The young samurai found himself surrounded by three spears of ice. They had grown out of the earth so quickly; he had not even felt it when one spear ripped through the ties on the back of his helmet-mask, unlacing it.

Number 15 stepped up quickly, and swung the shinai down towards the boy's head. Ichirou grit his teeth. He blocked his opponent's strike. Head protection or none, Ichirou could do kendô, and that was what he was here to do. He parried his opponent with several thrusts, taking advantage of his freer neck to plan out side-attacks.

Tenten looked quickly around. She was already pissed at her opponent. 'The rules specifically forbade offensive elemental jutsu!' The mist was fine, because it was just a hiding technique — but directly attacking Ichirou with growing ice-spears was obviously illegal.

"Are you looking for me?" Potamos asked behind her. She ducked the spinning kick Tenten threw out, and rolled backward in a normal somersault. She stood back up, the top of her curly hair only going to the height of Tenten's nose.

Tenten pulled off what looked like three wooden tubes from her back strap. With the same acrobatic skill she used with juggling kunai, she began to spin the sticks around her fingers. "You just lost major points for that ice on Ichirou-san."

Potamos lifted a fist to her mouth, and giggled. "What do you mean?"

Tenten felt sharp, skin-burning breaths around her ankles. She twisted the wooden sticks around, towards the points of freezing eruption. Her newly-made fighting staff crushed each watery spike before it could even grow to her knees. "Hmph." Tenten smirked at her opponent. "That technique, I mean."

"Why don't you prove that I did it?" Potamos suggested.

Tenten blinked. 'What?' Her mind slowly rewound the past half-minute. 'This girl... didn't use any hand-seals!' the Konoha-nin realized. Technically, if there were no hand-seals, then no elemental jutsu could be performed... Right?

Potamos scratched her cheek with a finger. "It might be the hidden ninja on the sidelines, who're in charge of giving obstacles." She glanced at the array of weapons around Tenten. "You sorta seemed to have de-armed them in the first round. So of course they'd feel inclined to resort to _other _measures."

Tenten felt something grow underneath her heel. The kunoichi lifted her sandal off the ground, before a megaton sliver of ice could drive up her foot. The mass sparkled in Tenten's vision as she stumbled backwards. 'Like hell it's not from you!' Tenten felt her elbow get an ugly scratch from the sandy grit of the arena. 'The icicles are only going after me and Ichirou!'

Potamos crossed her arms, and grinned at the teenager lying down before her. "Although, if it _is_ me — that means I can stab you or your cute lil' samurai without penalty." The purple-haired girl glanced at the judges. Sure enough, her score did not drop. In fact, it _increased_. "Ooh, lookie. My score went up."

Tenten heard Ichirou shout. She hastily got up. She was just in time to see Ichirou knocked down by Number 15. That strike on the shoulder looked harsh. "One!" the referee shouted. Tenten cursed. Forcing herself to forget about the girl, she walked over to where Ichirou's fallen helmet-mask was.

Ichirou rubbed his shoulder. "Ow..." He suddenly saw a gloved hand in front of him: Number 15 was offering to help him up. He graciously took it. But what startled him was when his opponent's mask came closer, even after Ichirou got back up on his feet.

"Don't freeze up like that," Number 15 murmured, the voice mysterious and sultry. "I just _know_ that you have better speed, and use of kiai-shouts. Focus on me next time. The shinobi are just part of the environment."

Ichirou blinked. From the voice, he could tell it was a woman underneath that mask. And it seemed like she was coaching him. Strangely, he grew excited at this. From what he saw in other matches, this Number 15 seemed like a real master of the sport.

"Ichirou-san." Tenten threw the helmet-mask to Ichirou. Getting out of his daze, he caught it with both hands. "Sorry for my delay." Fire seemed to burn in her brown eyes as she glanced at the opponent kunoichi. "I'm going to just NAIL that little brat."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Tenten-san." Ichirou tied his mask back on, and gave a quiet laugh. "It was my fault for... freezing up."

"That pun wasn't funny," Tenten muttered under her breath. Her fingers twitched as the opponent kunoichi prowled to her spot.

The supervisor raised his hands. "Ready —"

The voice of Tenten drowned his out. "GO!" Using chakra in her legs, she sprinted towards the purple-haired kunoichi, pulling off the rope of kunai and shuriken from her shoulders. With one extra kunai in her hand, she cut the string: she carefully set eight kunai and six shuriken in each hand, leaving the thumbs free.

Potamos jerked back at the sudden burst of speed Tenten gave off. 'A human can go this fast?' She crackled her knuckles, and smiled. The glint of a canine tooth was visible beneath a glossy lip. 'So Sacchan uses human energy most of the time after all... '

'I might not be able to call weapons,' — Tenten put chakra in the soles of her feet, and kicked off the ground — 'but at least I can handle multiple weapons that are already at my disposal!'

"Tenten-san?" Ichirou could not resist watching her. She was, after all, almost three meters in the air, which was practically impossible for any normal human to jump.

"Take this!" the brown-haired kunoichi shouted, her form high in the air above Potamos. "Buki Engeki!" (Theater of Weapons)

Exactly sixteen kunai and twelve shuriken flew from Tenten's hands. They thudded into Potamos' form with perfect accuracy. For a split-second, Tenten bit her lip — the other kunoichi was a little girl, after all — but her opponent's form splattered apart in a shower of water droplets.

Potamos reappeared a meter away from where her water-clone took the hit. 'Whew. I guess my replacement technique is getting better.' She watched the soaked weapons clatter to the ground. "Spiffy," she commented. "But not fast enough."

Tenten smirked. Through the air, she whipped her arms a second time. Her hands blurred — another set of sixteen kunai and twelve shuriken went after her opponent. "Buki Engeki, dai Ni!" (Theater of Weapons, Number Two) "Buki Engeki, dai San!" (Theater of Weapons, Number Three)

Potamos let off a quiet shriek as she danced away from set after set of blades. It was like gardens of steel instantaneously sprung up wherever her foot had touched. The only pause Tenten gave was when she had to land on the ground again. Other than that, the brown-haired kunoichi was a lethal, metal-shooting cannon.

"Dai Roku!" Tenten shouted, already on the sixth round. To any sane layman, she seemed almost TOO gleeful in raining down the steel upon her opponent. "Where the hell is your ice-jutsu?" she demanded.

Ichirou sighed in relief. Albeit Tenten's method was somewhat scaring him, he was glad she was on his side and not the other. "As intriguing as the ninja combat is," Number 15 intoned at Ichirou, "Didn't I tell you to focus on ME? I'm your opponent. Not them."

Ichirou raised his shinai. He actually had been expecting his opponent to come after him, when he was supposedly devoting all his attention to the fighting kunoichi. Yet Number 15 was patient enough to hold her hand. "I was waiting for you to make the first move, _Sensei_."

Number 15 paused. Something of a light laugh escaped the mask. "You flatter me. I am unworthy of such a title."

Taking this chance, Ichirou charged at his opponent. His shinai whisked upwards. "HAH!"

Number 15 blocked it before he could even swing fully down. She leaned over to him. "You're attacking directly too often," she said, their helmet-masks only inches away. "Don't overuse kiai-shouts, just because they make you feel good." She separated her bamboo sword from his, and held it forward, guarding herself. "Real kendô duels start with calm. Now, try to parry me."

Ichirou raised his shinai likewise: two hands on the hilt, and the tip of the sword pointing at the opponent. He was still for three seconds. He moved the bamboo sword. She blocked it, and pushed it back. Ichirou stepped back. Two seconds. Number 15 lunged at him — he side-stepped. 'I just want to make one strike,' the teenager thought. 'I don't care if I win or lose the duel. If I can manage to win against her in just one spar...'

Ichirou saw Number 15's wrist give way. He heard another kiai-shout escaped his mouth. Before his opponent's shinai could touch his forehead, Ichirou struck her shoulder with his.

Number 15 stepped back at the blow. It took a while for Ichirou to realize what just happened. "Two!" the supervisor called out. "One win on each side; the next win determines the match."

On the other end of the court, the two kunoichi were panting. "Damn," Tenten huffed. "The string — ran — out of weapons."

Potamos had her hands over her bent knees. "Is... that so?" Her lips made a feint smile. "You went all out to hurt me in the second round of this match, thinking your samurai had no chance anyway..."

"That's not it." Tenten lifted up her body, and grinned. "I only said that I used up _one_ string." She fingered the second rope of collected kunai and shuriken. "Actually, this is all I really need. I feel lighter, too."

The supervisor was, by now, already on his nerves' end. The samurai and ninja alike in this match had ludicrous behavior. "Third match," his voice rasped out. "Ready... go!"

Potamos held her hand over her mouth, covering a yawn. She saw that her opponent was working to unlace her second rope of weapons. 'What the hell is wrong with humans, hoarding up stacks of weapons?' the purple-haired girl asked inwardly. 'They're just loading themselves on...'

Her eyes then shot open: a new source of heat was directly behind her. The form she saw in front of her was just a distracting Bunshin. Instinctively, Potamos dropped to her left knee, and thrashed out a swift leg. A gleaming knife clicked out of her sandal's heel, and she aimed towards the real Tenten's face.

Tenten evaded the spiked kick, and rolled underneath her opponent's torso. She pivoted the fighting staff into the correct position. She then pushed it straight up the other kunoichi's stomach.

A choked sound came from Potamos. With the girl already in the air, Tenten body-slammed her. Potamos shrieked at the blow, before she sprawled on the ground. Several pants escaped Tenten. 'Was that enough?'

The purple-haired kunoichi slowly pulled herself up, sleek as a panther. Her eyes looked up. For a split-second, their pupils contracted into thin, vertical slits.

A chill overcame Tenten. Her legs urged her to run. Were her opponent's eyes... yellow?

"Three!" the supervisor shouted, bringing Tenten back to the real world. Potamos turned away, fluffing her curly lavender hair. Her eyes were brown; not yellow and cat-like, as Tenten had thought for a moment. But more importantly... who won the kendô duel? Tenten had been so intent on pinning down her insane opponent that she didn't even have time to keep track of Ichirou.

She looked at the scoreboard: Number 15 was the victor, 2-1. Ichirou had lost the third match. Oh, well. At least she got to fight that other kunoichi. Although, she didn't think she had actually won against her...

Ichirou unlaced his mask, taking a breather. He saw his protector's tired expression. "Tenten-san, you're okay!"

"I could have given you the first win," she muttered. Damn, the jangling of the weapons around her shoulders was beginning to irritate her. Oh, why wasn't she allowed to use calling scrolls? Sweet, rollable, oh-so-convenient calling scrolls. Would give her a hundred weapons at the tip of her thumb where the blood was pricked...

"Um... Tenten-san..." Ichirou looked slightly embarrassed as he faced the kunoichi — somewhat understandable, because all kendô practitioners wore a showercap-like cloth on their heads under the helmet-mask. "I might not be an expert on ninjutsu — but you're great compared to the rest of the shinobi. I mean, that other girl... I think you did a great accomplishment just holding her back." He pulled off the white cloth, letting air wash through his sweaty brown hair. "To be honest, despite her looks, she's a little scary."

Tenten nodded. So she wasn't the only one who felt apprehensive about the purple-haired kunoichi. Team 15 was certainly an intriguing force.

"Next lots." The head referee held a box out to Ichirou. He drew out a random paper, and the referee walked away.

Ichirou read the contents of the paper: -Area C- He turned towards the said square, and began to trudge along. "One more duel, Tenten-san," he said, the weariness already in his voice. "We can make it then."

"Mm hmm." Tenten dusted herself off. Her foot froze over the taped line of Area C. "Um, Ichirou-san..."

A patch with the number 12 showed up before Ichirou. Which had to be...

Jouji stood, tall and magnificent in his kendô-armor. "Hiya, Ichirou-kun," he said through his meshed helmet-mask. His voice flowed out like springtime water: clear and smooth, yet cold from the winter snow it came from. "I guess we'll go up against each other after all."

* * *

On the other side of town, another fight was going on. Not as bloodthirsty as the samurai-ninja double teams, but it was still pretty violent.

"Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Naruto winced as the Lee slugged through two shadow-clones only half-a-second after they were created. The remaining eight tackled the green-clad shinobi, who just threw them all off with mighty swings of his limbs.

"Lee, get a hold of yourself!" Naruto shouted.

He had managed to pull Lee away from the village, dragging him on the ground when he was asleep, and using masses upon masses of shadow-clones when he was awake. It was sure frustrating to create a human wall out of... one self, only to have the barricade destroyed within ten seconds. It was as if the drunken martial artist reacted to orange, in the same way bulls reacted to red: go berserk.

Naruto grit his teeth as he jumped out of Lee's range. Even if his eyes were somewhat trained to follow taijutsu now, the style of Suiken — the Drunken Fist — precisely had its strength in its chaos and lack of form, making it extremely hard to predict its movements.

"TAAAAH!" Lee shouted. "Dynamic..."

Lee suddenly forgot what word to say next. He shrugged. Then he flopped over onto the ground.

Naruto sighed as he heard the snoring erupt from Lee again. The fox-boy braced himself, however: any second now, the martial artist would wake up from his stupor, and attack again. Lee was drunk, that much Naruto figured out by now. He had refused to believe it at first. Lee was too athletic-oriented to consume liquor, much less during a mission. But Naruto had seen enough of Jiraiya to know what excessive consumption of alcohol looked like, and Lee's behavior eventually convinced him.

'Yo, Naruto-niichan.'

The blond stilled. He hadn't heard that voice for almost a month. "...Warashi?" Naruto asked.

There was a poof, and a mass of whitish aura swirled into the form of Zashiki Warashi. "Yup, it's me!" After a moment's pause, Warashi's face lost its puckish expression. "Niichan, I'm relaying this to you quick. Don't follow what you're looking for at this tournament."

Naruto's brow furrowed. "Do you know something about Sakura-chan?"

"Who?" Warashi asked, confused. When he saw Naruto's sulking expression, the ghost only shrugged. "Look, I just have a bad feeling right now, okay? Konoha might need you. I'm going off to check on Hinata-neechan, so..."

Warashi's image puffed out, leaving Naruto under the cherry blossom trees with Lee sleeping on the ground. 'Konoha...' The blond then shrugged off Warashi's comments. Naruto didn't really see how dumping this chance to capture Sakura would endanger the Hidden Leaf Village. If anything, Sakura was a huge asset to it. And she was his friend — the place just wasn't the same without her.

* * *

"So you will convince Hinata," an elder said.

"I will discuss it with her," Hiashi answered. "Whether she will be convinced is not in my control."

Another relative gave a weak laugh. "You are ever stoic, Hiashi. Disavowing any power over other's emotions." There was a pause. "Whatever she feels on the matter, however, will make no difference. The process will turn out the same, either way."

Hiashi looked extremely uncomfortable. "I don't understand why we must put the issue to her already now," he insisted. "She has not reached her eighteenth birthday. That is when..."

"The heir must be officially announced," a cousin finished for him. "We know. But she is only chuunin. It is respectable, but not enough for our standards. And neither does she show signs of reaching Neji's level by the time of her eighteenth birthday... or ever, for that matter."

"You do understand, Hiashi." Hiashi's elderly uncle bit down on a pipe. "Konoha's safety depends on the safety of the clan."

Under his sleeves, Hiashi's tightened fists turned white. He then breathed in resignation. "Yes," he said, his opaque eyes now slightly glassy. "I will discuss with Hinata tonight... the option to undertake the curse seal."

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	35. Escape

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

"Quotations"

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback))

Chapter 35: Escape

* * *

Tenten snorted at the armored Jouji. 'So the middle-child is out to bully. I won't have it!' She turned to Ichirou, who still clutched his helmet-mask to his chest. She yanked the item out of his arms to get his attention. When that didn't work, she pulled him to the sidelines. He needed to compose himself. They still had one minute before the next round started.

"Ichirou-san, this is your chance!" Tenten tied the helmet-mask on Ichirou's head for him, with the force of a maid securing one of those foreign corset-things that made women look thinner and lose fertility. "You can beat that bastard, here and now!"

"His body is pure brawn," Ichirou said with a squeak.

"All brawn, no brains!" Tenten insisted. She remembered back to his movements in the first round. Jouji had pounced on Ichirou almost immediately with full force. But the second time Jouji attacked, his reaction time was slower. "He's uses his massive stature to intimidate, and he puts more power in his strikes — but he gets tired too easily." Her glare burned itself through the mesh of Ichirou's helmet-mask. "Your movements are more nimble."

"Because I'm _short_," Ichirou mumbled.

Tenten grasped her forehead. Damn men and their height-complex. Yelling further would probably not inspire the stricken Ichirou anymore. "Height has nothing to do with kendô, and you know it," she said. "This is the fifth and last round for everybody. Jouji-san only uses a crash-and-burn strategy, and he's probably dead-tired right now! You're calmer!" Ichirou turned away. Tenten sighed. The kunoichi put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Just do your best, okay?" She guided him slowly back to the ring.

The young samurai gulped. He felt like he was walking towards a scaffold instead of a human being. "He's so tall..."

"Height doesn't necessarily make guys stronger." Tenten's lips turned downward into a frown. She'd do _anything_ to help Ichirou beat this disgusting hulk... even lie a bit. "Besides, I like short guys."

Ichirou's small stature turned rigid. "Huh?"

"GO!" the supervisor of the match shouted. With a roar, Jouji ran towards Ichirou with his shinai.

Tenten jumped out of the way. Any bodily contact with the samurai would take off points. She saw the opposing shinobi, and identified him as one from the Hidden Stone. His hands performed several In, and he sank his fingers into the ground. A mountain formed underneath his palms, which then set off a line of upturning earth towards Tenten.

Her brown eyes sharpened. 'Doton — earth-style techniques?' Tenten threw several kunai on the even ground before her.

_Clunk._

Ichirou's shinai rested on his brother' shoulder pad. He had won the first match. "One!" the supervisor shouted out. Both kendô-fighters were stunned.

Balancing on the knobs of her now-sinking kunai, Tenten breathed a sigh of relief. She had judged correctly that her opponent was trying to twist or break her ankles, by crumbling the ground underneath her. She had managed to soften the blow by using several kunai as a standing ground, a barrier. Some shockwaves had traveled into her feet, but not enough to disable her.

Tenten was also relieved for Ichirou. It seemed like he regained most of his confidence back, judging from how well he reacted to his brother's quick charge. 'Maybe I should fib more often,' Tenten mentally noted. To be honest, she had no weakness for short men — but neither did she have one for tall ones. She just had to get rid of Ichirou's height complex.

Jouji stepped back, almost too calmly. He turned back to check the state of his shinobi, and nodded.

"Ready," the supervisor raised his hand, "go!"

The Iwa-nin rushed at Tenten, a kunai in hand. She flicked out her own kunai, and easily parried it. 'Simple move,' she mused to herself, almost bored. She could handle almost anything that related to weapons. That guy did straight charge, with the damn weapon showing all the way... 'Wait a minute!'

Tenten's brown eyes opened wide. Her legs were sunk, knee-deep, in wet cement. The simple kunai-attack had only been a diversion.

"Tenten-san!" Ichirou felt his brother's shinai crash against his own. He kept his legs steady.

"Just pay attention to your own match!" Tenten shouted at him. As she struggled to pull out her feet from the soft rock, Ichirou's image wavered in front of her. 'Damn it! I knew that the Hidden Stone Village took pride in carving raw stone, but not making them!'

Tenten halted as something overshadowed her. To her upper right, the opposing Iwa-nin raised a kunai. She looked up with a gasp.

Ichirou flung his shinai at Jouji. Jouji lifted his own, and blocked it. Ichirou could hear the quick, uneven intakes of breath from his older brother — Jouji did not know how to control his breathing in this sport. 'So Tenten-san was right," the younger samurai thought between strikes. 'It's true that Jouji-san bursts in power in the beginning, due to his stature. But he doesn't have the stamina to fight for long periods of time. He's already tired.'

The two separated. Ichirou took a careful step back, and breathed. He then advanced, seeing an opening.

Jouji panted in his hot and heavy armor. His muscles ached for rest. He saw Ichirou raise his shinai.

"_Mistake_," Jouji hissed.

Behind the helmet-mask, Ichirou's eyes turned stricken. The young samurai couldn't move.

Tenten ran the tip of her kunai across the back of a finger. She winced at the pain — but the cement around her feet disappeared. She twisted around, free from the genjutsu. The kunoichi raised a knee up the stomach of her opponent above. "Ichirou-san!" she shouted.

Ichirou could barely hear her. The next thing he knew, Jouji thwacked away his shinai, and struck him in the shoulder. Hard. Ichirou didn't understand why his legs gave way. Neither did he understand why he heard his mother's voice.

(( "Ichirou-chan, you are my first, and only." ))

When Ichirou came to, he was already crouching on his knees upon the dusty ground. Jouji walked back to his designated position in the ring, a low chuckle from underneath his helmet mask. "What did I tell you?" the older sibling muttered. "You're not fit to be a samurai."

Ichirou's watery eyes blinked. 'Jouji-san...'

Tenten kicked away the opponent ninja. She turned to her client. She saw him crouching on the ground, an awkward sight with the bulky kendô-armor. "Ichirou-san?" She walked up behind him. "What's wrong?"

* * *

(( A twelve-year-old Jouji tackled a boy on the tatami floor. "Who the HELL are you?" he screamed. "You can't just play with onii-san's sword like that! It's a sacred item in the samurai class; it's up for display for a _reason_!"

Ichigi opened the screen door. He had heard the commotion from out in the hallway. What he saw was his sheathed ceremonial katana, out its display support and now lying on the tatami mat — and Jouji sinking his foot on Ichirou's crotch. As the eldest sibling, Ichigi immediately pulled the violent one off. "Stop that, Jouji!" he shouted. "He didn't know!"

"Of course he doesn't!" Jouji struggled within the iron arm-lock of his older brother. He glared up at Ichigi. "Why are you defending him, Nii-san? We don't even know where he CAME from!"

"He's our little brother," Ichigi said in an even voice.

"That's a lie!" Jouji shouted. He turned his eyes back on Ichirou, a mere figure curled up against the opposite wall. "I've never seen Okaa-sama pregnant! This brat just shows up, and Otou-sama says he's our _brother_? How can he be, if he didn't come from Okaa-sama?"

Ichigi, relieved that Jouji stopped struggling, let go of his sibling. To his bewilderment, the twelve-year-old only charged at the small Ichirou again.

"Jouji, _you're_ the idiot." Ichigi pulled up the raging kid. Knowing that Jouji was not listening to his words anymore, the eldest picked up the katana from the floor, and pointed the edge of it to Jouji's throat. The weapon had a protective sheath still on, but the gesture was enough to silence the boy. "Ichirou-kun _is_ our little brother," Ichigi said. "Even though our mothers are different, that doesn't make us any less family."

There was a painful silence.

"What?" Jouji croaked out. This was his first time to see, that his father might have been in any way unfaithful to his mother. It was inconceivable; his father was a better man...

Ichirou was equally shocked. He had never been told that the strange daimyo who brought him here was, in flesh and blood, his father. He rarely saw the man. All Ichirou got were the words from his mother's former employer, the matron of the brothel house: that he would be safe, as long as he followed the daimyo's orders. Ichirou had been confused when he was brought to this household after his mother's death. But now...

Ichigi removed the sheathed katana from Jouji's neck, and let his sibling drop face-first on the mat. Taking advantage of the shock on both parties, he placed the weapon back in its wooden support for the display. "If you want to learn to fight properly, I will teach both of you kendô." Ichigi put his hand in the wooden crevice of the sliding door. "But if I catch either of you fighting in dishonorable ways, you will have to answer to _me_."

The door closed quietly.

Jouji stared. He was now in a different shock: not anymore that his father had an affair and a baby outside his family duties, but that his older brother Ichigi accepted it without qualms. Jouji had waited long for his older brother to teach him kendô. But that his bastard brother had the exact same opportunity... It left a bad taste in Jouji's mouth.

The twelve-year-old turned to the boy in the corner, and glared at him with reddening, puffed eyes. "Mistake," he accused his half-sibling. He left the room in a dash.

Ichirou tightened in his seated position, and began to cry. Nobody came to comfort him. ))

* * *

"I don't think I can go on," Ichirou muttered.

Tenten heard something faint to a sob from her client's mask. Her brown eyes looked down. "I don't know exactly what Jouji did to you in the past," the kunoichi said. "But you can't just give up now. The score is one-to-one. The third match will decide this round."

The young samurai breathed heavily through his mask. Tenten was right. He had come so far, it would be folly to give up. Preparing to stand, he put his right hand on his knee.

Ichirou froze. A flash of pain crossed his face. "Argh!"

Tenten's brown eyes trailed onto his arm. "Ichirou-san... Is your right shoulder broken?"

Ichirou tried to move it. It didn't help, of course; he just winced.

Panicking, Tenten turned to the supervisor. "We're taking that three-minute allowance for a break!" Satisfied with his nod (and ignoring Jouji's triumphant laugh), Tenten turned back to Ichirou.

The weapon-mistress knelt down to him. She automatically placed her calloused hand on his right shoulder blade, which produced another exclamation of agony. "Okay, okay, no touching..." Tenten studied the area of kendô-armor on Ichirou's right shoulder. One piece was cracked. Either the material in that area had been worn out, or Jouji's strike was incredibly strong. Probably both. She carefully put her fingers underneath the indented plate, and the montsuki-shirt — sure enough, the swelling of flesh was there, and the cave-in of the armor was poking into the site of injury.

Tenten flicked out a kunai, and began to slide it underneath Ichirou's armor. Ichirou began to sweat. "Tenten-san?"

Tenten pulled the plate slightly off his body. "Relax. I'm operating."

"_What_?"

"On your _armor,_" she corrected, fiddling the kunai inside the hollow. "My dad's a blacksmith. I'll do this quick." Tenten felt the blade-tip run over a bump — it was the indent that hurt Ichirou so much. She scratched a small point at the site, like caving out a hole on a mountaintop. After making sure that it held her kunai in place, Tenten positioned the kunai at the correct angle, relative to the armor's structure, and shoved the kunai outward.

With an awkward metallic ring, the armor popped back into something of its original shape. Embarrassingly, Tenten spent the next fifteen seconds to yank out the kunai out from its stuck position. But once that was out, they were still within safe range of the time limit. "Okay!" Tenten threw the dulled kunai onto her string of 'rejects', weapons that still were high-quality but needed sharpening. "How's that? Can you move?"

Ichirou gave a slow swing to his shoulder. "It... took away the constant pressure." He omitted the fact that there were brief moments of tear-jerking pain whenever he moved his right arm.

Tenten sighed. Of course repairing armor could not compare with repairing anatomy. And kendô worked best when the user held the sword with both hands. That was why the handle on a shinai or katana was so long. With a broken shoulder bone, he was better off forfeiting this match.

"Thanks, Tenten-san!" Ichirou awkwardly gathered the shinai with his left hand, and stood up. "I think I can hold my own now."

Tenten stared. Coming out of her trance, she trailed her client. "Ichirou-san!" she hissed. "Your determination is admirable, but there's something called a _limit_!" Tenten was seriously worried: if Jouji noticed that Ichirou was using simply one hand, much less his left one, he might think Ichirou was not taking him seriously. That temper of Jouji was something that came out only in intense, unexpected moments, just like how Ichirou's calm only manifested itself in kendô duels. Tenten also had to think about the opponent shinobi, who probably recognized that there was something wrong with her client.

The younger samurai stepped in his position. Ichirou rested the bamboo sword over his left shoulder, clearly displaying now that he was planning to use his other hand. Although he was scared, he was determined not to run away. 'I'm not sure whether I'm qualified to be a real samurai. But because of Ichigi-niisan, I learned kendô. It would be an insult to him if I dropped out now.'

The supervisor crossed his arms. Out of all the matches in the final round, this was the only one that had not started, due to the requested time-out. Judging from the screams around him, the other matches were coming to a close. The time limit was up. He raised his hand. "This next win determines the spar. Ready — GO."

Ichirou took an intake of breath. He jumped back slightly, clacking away his brother's first strike. His left-handed movements were one awkward block after another. Jouji performed a side-chop towards Ichirou's right side. By instinct alone, both of Ichirou's arms made a double-grip on the sword: the fracture in his left shoulder jerked.

Ichirou blocked Jouji's horizontal strike, with both hands holding the shinai. The blow gave a second and more acute wave of pain to his shoulder. Ichirou stumbled to the side, holding the bamboo sword upward so that it 'protected' the injured area.

Jouji spun around, preparing to strike Ichirou's left side. Didn't his little brother ever give up? "You son of a wh—"

Ichirou's eyes shot open. His left hand made a death-grip on his shinai.

There was a crack of bamboo.

Jouji's weapon clattered to the ground. Ichirou stood, his shinai pointing to his brother's neck area. "DON'T insult my mother," Ichirou said.

Jouji gave no answer. He did not even move.

The supervisor frowned. "As excellent as that disarmament was," he said to Ichirou, "that doesn't conclude the match. You need to _strike_ him." He could not disqualify Jouji for making a base insult during a match; there were judges for that.

Ichirou was still. In his own mind, he had won the match. But somehow, he didn't feel like striking.

"Ichirou-san!" Tenten shouted.

There was a sound of crashing rock. Ichirou's head automatically turned. A spiked column of cement was shooting out of the ground, aiming towards his eyes. He could only raise his shinai upward. The splintering of wood rang in his ears. That was strange, bamboo did not crack like that...

Ichirou blinked. Several drops of blood fell on the yellow dirt, creating an ugly dark brown. Tenten stood at Ichirou's side, holding up her folded fighting-staff as a defense. The stone spike had broken through the wooden tubes, and stabbed a point on the back of her hand. A thin line of blood ran down her arm. "Hurry it up," Tenten said, biting down the pain.

Ichirou's shinai finally hit Jouji's armor — but not through movement of his arm. Ichirou was so appalled by Tenten jumping in, that his body toppled over. The first thing that hit Jouji was the shinai. The next was Ichirou himself. "HEY!" Jouji shoved Ichirou off, who was by now completely passed out. "Don't do that, you fruitcake!"

Tenten gasped. She managed to catch the unconscious teenager, and untie his helmet-mask off. The supervisor presumed that Tenten was going to try rescue breathing or CPR on Ichirou. She did no such thing: she violently shook the boy by the shoulders. "ICHIROU-SAN! Pull yourself together!"

* * *

(( "Don't call me Ichirou-chan!" a little boy insisted.

"Why not?" Ichirou's mother pulled him up, and set him upon her waitress apron. "Don't you like it?"

"The 'chan' is for babies... and girls!" Ichirou emphasized the last word, as if it were dirty. " 'Ichirou' alone is just fine!"

The woman smiled. "You know, a former customer of mine... told me that that word actually comes from a famous general's name."

"General?" Ichirou repeated.

"A great warrior," his mother explained.

Ichirou's face lit up. Warrior. Now there was a word Ichirou could understand. He hooked his index finger over his lower lip. "So... why is 'chan' for kids?"

"Mommies gave it to their little boys, who they loved very much. So that they would grow big annd strong, like that general." She patted Ichirou's head. "But later, it applied to all kids, not just sons. Over time, people forgot its original meaning."

Ichirou pouted. "But it's still for girls. I want just 'Ichirou'."

His mother smiled. "Of course. My first one. My only one." ))

* * *

As the judges were working out the final scores, Sasuke counted the scores that he and his rounin earned. From the last scoring, Sasuke scored first, with Tenten second. Sasuke was slightly happy about that, because it was proof for himself that he could get through a challenge without using his Sharingan. Sure, he had used it in the messy preliminary round, and during breaks. But turning the bloodline limit on during the actual, clean duels would give a blaring message to other ninja in this public square: 'Hey, an Uchiha survivor right here! Aim!'

The head referee tapped his microphone. "_The judges have finished their results!_" His hand gestured to the scoreboard. "_First, the individual ninja scores. The top three, please come forward._"

Sasuke looked up. For obvious reasons, they did not put the names of the shinobi up, only their numbers. His own number '28' was set up on second place. Tenten had beaten him by one point, going up in first. It was kind of a stint in his pride, but good for her. She deserved that much for using her own hand as a shield for her client.

As he walked to the judges, Sasuke felt an icy chill on the back of his neck. He turned around, gripping a few shuriken inside his pockets.

"Hiya!" Yes, Potamos had ended up in third place. Behind her back, her right hand nervously curled over a senbon, which she had been planning to use on Sasuke's back. Unfortunately, his reaction time was too good. And his glare was as evil as that of any normal demon.

Sasuke stepped away from the purple-haired girl, and instead walked to her side. FAR to her side. The closest he approached her was when he took his second-place prize from the judge. It was a silver-covered kunai, more decoration than of practical consequence. Sasuke decided he'd donate the damn thing to the blacksmiths when he got back to the Leaf.

"_Next, the individual samurai scores,_" the head referee announced through the microphone. "_The top three, please come forward to receive your prizes._"

The scores flashed on the board. Sasuke bit his lip: the rounin's individual performance merited only fourth place. Ichirou took third. (His older brother Jouji was somewhere in seventh, thanks to that near-insult he hurled at Ichirou.) Some random samurai was in second.

Number 15 was in first. Sasuke nearly clutched his head. The rounin was in fourth place, and Number 15 in _first_? Sasuke's only hope of getting close was the team awards, when samurai and shinobi alike would stand together. That was when the samurai were required to take off their helmet-masks.

"_Finally... the total team scores._"

Sasuke and the rounin watched for their score. They were in... fourth place. 'Damn!' Sasuke inwardly swore. 'So close!' The straw-hat only gave a shrug.

Tenten squealed. Like a girl. "Ichirou-san! Ichirou-san! We got second!" Ichirou only weakly nodded. He was still getting over the shock of seeing Tenten getting wounded; he didn't even see what was going around him while he was receiving the third place prize for the samurai.

Sasuke looked at the giddy Tenten. "Keep your eye on Number 15," he articulated once more.

She scowled. "Yeah, yeah." Tenten dragged the now exhausted Ichirou away. How could she _not_ pay attention to Team 15? That team placed first, for crying out loud. She also hated its ninja, but that was a different thing. 'At least I beat her in individual performance. HA!'

"_Third place, Team 9..._"

On stage, the samurai in the third-place team took off his helmet-mask, in respect of the minister who was bestowing the medallions. Ichirou did the same, albeit he needed a little help from Tenten. Number 15, in contrast, was still. He — or rather, she — was not moving to take off the armor. Potamos looked a little nervous. She tugged on the sleeve of her client, who only shook a covered head in response.

'How very suspicious.' Sasuke touched the wire in his pocket. He winced when he felt a cut form across his palm: he had brought the wrong type of wire! How was he supposed to capture Sakura in one piece? She'd surely resist if he attacked her, which was almost inevitable. What did Naruto say about approaching girls? Did he call it... talking? 'What the hell,' Sasuke decided. 'I'll try it. If she's not convinced, I'll use my body — no, I mean tackle her to the floor — no! Just capture her. Right.'

"Number 15, sir?" The referee motioned to the kendô-practitioner once more, indicating the minister was before him. "You may show your face now."

The samurai looked down. Tenten and Ichirou watched. Sasuke burned. 'Come ON!'

"I'm sorry," Number 15 said quietly to the minister. "I've been deceiving you." Potamos covered her mouth with both hands in horror, as her client removed the helmet-mask.

Sasuke's silver kunai dropped to the ground. His red eyes were wide in shock.

Long locks of chestnut-brown hair fell to the samurai's shoulders. The gesture unveiled the sweaty face of a thirty-year-old woman. Number 15 smiled at the referee. "Forgive me. This was the only way I could attract contestants. Several girls I knew refused to join, unless I entered in with them." She turned to Potamos next to her. "Right?"

"But... But..." The head referee was clutching his head. "You're an iaidô _master_, Morikita!" he finally burst out. "You and your husband own a whole school! That's unfair to the other contestants!"

"That's why I'm declining this award." Morikita handed back the medallion she received for the individual samurai scores. She turned to the daimyo, and bowed. "Again, I apologize. Please award the prize to this team," she said, gesturing to Tenten and Ichirou. Morikita then turned to Potamos. "I'm sorry, Hiromi-chan. You'll be walking away with only one award."

The minister chuckled at the sheepish-looking woman. "You pulled that exact same stunt fifteen years ago," he said. "I remember it well."

Like Sasuke, Potamos was stunned. She, also, had thought she was with Sakura. She had never thought that she was with Morikita, the teacher who had informed them in the bathhouse about the Kiyomizu tournament.

"Where's Sacchan?" Potamos asked in a whisper.

Morikita looked surprised. "That girl told me she'd be watching in the stands. ...She didn't tell you that she switched out in the last minute?"

The referee scratched his head. "Well, this is awkward." He saw the technicians work briefly, before the corrected scores flashed onto the display. "We'll have to do the samurai awards all over again, as well as the team awards."

Sasuke realized that he and the rounin bumped up to third. He turned around.

The straw-hat had disappeared.

Sasuke began to walk off, away from the waiting stage. Ignoring the shouts by Tenten to get his ass over for the award, he pushed his legs towards a full sprint out of the crowd. "Naruto!" he shouted.

* * *

Lee's eyes blinked open. Cherry blossoms were above him in trees, and scattered on the ground. The evening was coming to a close. Lee clutched his head, a hangover over him. As he sat up, a note fell from his lap. He crushed it in his hand. Nothing happened. Satisfied that it was not an exploding note, he opened its crumpled remains, and began to read. -Lee, you looked drunk and out of it, so I knocked you out and fenced you off in this area. I put up a barrier about ten meters around you. It'll deactivate when you walk out slowly. Naruto.-

Lee heard a light gasp of surprise. Ten meters away was small figure in dark robes, picking up a straw-hat. Sensing some déjà vu, Lee neared forward.

"...Sakura-san?"

The figure froze. Haruno Sakura turned around. Her hair was in a different style, now with bangs and a ponytail like a traditional male of the samurai class. "Lee-san," she said in her now-normal voice. There was no point in attempting to hide herself now. Minoru's voice-changing potion had lost its effect. She was somewhat surprised that out of all the people in Konoha, the first person to truly find her out was Lee.

Lee's face was serious. Yes, Sakura was a good friend, but she had done a grave violation of shinobi law. She had abandoned the village. "Sakura-san... why did you leave?"

"Several reasons." Sakura looked unusually tired. "I can't really give a good explanation, but... I have something more important to do."

"_Important_?" he asked. Lee had to pause at his outburst. Suddenly yelling like that brought back the headache. "What's more important... than taking care of the injured?"

"There are other medic-nin in the staff." Sakura lightly rubbed her shoulder, wondering if the pain there was a cramp. Nope, it was a bruise.

Lee stared at the blank-faced kunoichi. She could not possibly be serious. "What about your parents? Your comrades?" Silence answered him. Lee's jaw tightened for a moment. "What about Sasuke-kun?"

To the martial artist's surprise, a snort escaped Sakura after the last item. "My parents will understand. You and the others don't have to." She looked up, her eyes a strange, dark hue. "And Sasuke would be indifferent. He probably didn't even notice that I left."

"That's a lie," Lee breathed out. He could not believe this. This was not the Sakura he always knew. Lee had admired Sakura for reasons other than her pretty face — her intelligence, for one. Any idiot in the village could see that the main reason Sasuke tolerated the confinements of being a Konoha-nin again after escaping Orochimaru, was because of Sakura. Among all the shinobi hired by the Hokage to help rehabilitate the traitor, the pink-haired ninja was the only one whom Sasuke had not tried to use as target practice.

Sakura stepped away, walking around the barrier instead of through it. "Don't walk away from me, Sakura-san," Lee demanded. When she did not comply, Lee put his bandaged hands to the ground, like a sprinter readying his position.

Sakura heard him kick off the ground. Her fingers interlaced in a hand-seal. She turned around to the incoming ninja.

Lee banged against an invisible wall. Sakura stared, her hands frozen in position.

'That's right,' Lee thought, twitching in pain on the ground, 'Naruto wrote that the barrier de-actives only when I go out _slowly_.' His hand waved around the area that had most recently been solid. His fingertip touched something. A transparent, blue wall of aura rippled out, before dissolving into thin strips of paper and falling to the petal-covered earth.

Lee looked up at the kunoichi. "Sakura-san, please hear me out. You cannot surely think —"

In a fleeting instant, Lee found himself staring at Sakura's lips. Their rosy hue seemed to glitter, right before she put them on the palm of her right hand.

Wait... her mouth, in the palm of her hand?

The medic-nin did next, what Lee thought she'd never do in a million years: she blew him a kiss. Lee's brain went haywire. It felt so wonderful — and so wrong, too. Sakura was supposed to like Sasuke, not him! And Sasuke, his rival and comrade, looked so miserable these past months. Lee had just gotten _over_ Sakura; why this now?

Another thing that disturbed Lee was the mass of light, glowing flower-petals. They were dancing in the air towards him, as if they had come from the young lady's breath. One feathered his cheek. Another blocked his right eye. He felt his consciousness slip away.

Sakura caught his falling body. "Don't take that too seriously, Lee-san," she whispered in his ear. She let the sleeping martial artist gently on the ground. She felt a little sorry that she indirectly caused his protective barrier to deteriorate. But she couldn't do everything perfectly.

Her cheeks were burning a little as she walked away. 'I can't believe it. That kiss-and-blow move that Minoru suggested actually worked.' The memory of Lee's reddening face stabbed her with guilt. 'Although, it acted more as a distraction...' The kunoichi secured her green straw-hat back on. She turned her head slightly, taking one last look at the curled-up ninja. She had to smile at his adorable position. 'Had I stayed in Konoha, I could have married Lee-san. Maybe even grown to love him.'

At Sakura's waist hung an inrou, a wooden case that samurai kept their small valuables in. This one was made of cedar, and had a huge bead — a netsuke — made of pink enamel, shaped like a cherry blossom.

She had not noticed the glowing sticker on the bottom of the wooden case.

* * *

Hiashi sat at a mahogany cabinet. An incense stick burned in a small pot, filled with sand. An old black-and-white picture stood in a frame in the center.

The patriarch sighed. Although he was not the oldest living member of the clan, he often felt like it. Managing a whole clan was not the high-and-honorable position that commoners perceived it to be. Especially that of a ninja clan. Even luxuries, from early private education, to elaborate clothing in public ceremonies, were all laden with a sense of duty to the state. What point was there to a ruling class, if its members used their positions only for themselves?

Hiashi knew he was guilty of that. He was hesitating to talk to Hinata about the seal. People with any trace of sensitivity would think this action best, that Hiashi was caring for Hinata as a father. But then his duty as the Hyuuga clan leader would be compromised if he kept this on. What about the branch members? They, too, wanted their dignity for tolerating their curse seals all their lives. Were a weak, former heiress left untouched, they would see Hiashi of being inconsistent in his words.

That god-awful meeting with the other elders was already a day ago. Hiashi was in a muddle. He knew how terrible the seal was, seeing it performed on his twin brother — how it embittered him, and many other victims. Yet even with all its brief moments of tension, the Hyuuga clan had something that most other clans struggled to keep: order, and stability. Would Hiashi be so selfish and not place a seal on Hinata, and she was captured and turned into a human guinea pig (which was precisely what nearly had happened when she was three years old), it would be his fault.

One could say that taking the curse seal was a release from the burden of great expectations. If one was clan leader, or hoping to be one, one had to be on guard against anybody wanting the clan's secrets. Every time Hiashi traveled outside Konoha for peaceful, diplomatic duties, he rarely came back home without having had to kill at least one assassin who wanted to dissect his unsealed head. In contrast, his relatives in the branch families were relatively safe. If you were born in the main house and wanted to stay there, you had to put up with being a walking target. Failure meant death, not only of oneself, but that of the clan. And the death of the Hyuuga clan, would most likely mean the death of the Leaf. The village had survived the Kyuubi, the Uchiha massacre — but could it pull through if the Hyuuga also died out?

"Otou-sama?"

Hiashi looked up. The incense stick was already burned down to the sand in the pot. He breathed in the heavily scented air, and turned his head to the door. "Yes?"

The painted screen door quietly slid open. Hinata appeared, in the correct kneeling position in the hallway. "Good morning," she greeted him, a smile and no stutter on her lips.

"Why are you here?" Hiashi asked harshly. Hinata felt her posture shrink on impulse. The old severity was back in his voice. A sigh of regret escaped Hiashi's mouth. "I'm sorry. My nerves have been shot today." He met only a silence. He turned back to Hinata, who was still kneeling in the hallway before him. That looked so wrong to him, seeing such a pure daughter loving him from a distance. "Don't just sit there. Come."

Hinata looked surprised for a moment. She then quickly drew herself up and walked into the room, closing the door behind her. She sat down next to Hiashi. Facing the cabinet, she put her hands flat against each other, and made a small gesture of prayer. She then turned her eyes back on her father.

"What do you require?" Hiashi asked the girl, his eyes still on the picture in the cabinet.

Hinata folded her hands in her lap. "Kugi-oji-sama was kind enough to tell me... that you wanted an audience with me."

Hiashi frowned. "I see. Kugi told you." Kugi was Hiashi's uncle, and Hinata's great-uncle. He had not had enough guts these past hours to talk to her, let alone face her, so Kugi pushed Hinata to come to Hiashi herself. Of course, Hinata did not suspect anything wrong with this. Her father's silence was normal to her.

Hiashi noticed his daughter eyeing the incense pot. He knew what Hinata was thinking. "You do not need to burn another incense stick," he firmly said. "Too much smoke ruins the walls." Knowing without looking that Hinata was shocked, Hiashi continued in an even tone, "I used the last one anyway."

"Oh." Hinata looked into her lap. She noticed that her fingers were quaking. She planted each palm on a thigh, to resist that old habit of twiddling fingers. "So... What is it that you wanted to speak of?"

Hiashi's eyes trailed on her unmarked forehead. Something in him cringed. He decided to look at her eyes instead.

"Otou-sama?" Hinata repeated. Her pale eyes creased in concern. She had never seen him so troubled.

Hiashi turned back to the cabinet. "I wanted to know if you were well," he said evenly. "That was all."

Hinata blinked. She then smiled. "I'm fine. Training is difficult, but I manage." She rubbed the side of her shoulder. "Godaime-sama and Shizune-san teach me so much in herbs and medicines! I'm halfway through memorizing the desert plants near the Wind Country..." Her lavender eyes opened wide in realization: Hiashi meant her progress in her martial arts. Not a medical research report! It had been automatic for her to speak on the herbal medicine... "And the Jyuuken," she said, her words coming out in higher pitch and speed, "I think I saw a hint of the next Divination Level!"

Hiashi blinked at the sudden sweat forming on her clean brow. He had been happy enough with the first report... He gave her a half-hearted smile. "You are dismissed."

Hinata gave a short bow to him, and quietly left the room. She was unhurt by her father's bland dismissal; he rarely expressed joy through words. Rather, she was concerned for him. His eyes had looked so sad.

In the room, Hiashi's eyes were glued again on the cabinet. Or rather, on the framed photograph inside. An almost exact copy of his face was there, before the incense pot. 'Hizashi, what should I do?'

* * *

"It wasn't Sakura-chan?" Naruto whispered. At the shake of Sasuke's head, Naruto bumped his head on the wall. "Oh, man..."

"Thank you for escorting me," Ichirou said, bowing his head to the group. He turned to its lone kunoichi. "Tenten-san, I thank you especially. Hopefully, I'll get better with more training."

Tenten looked at Ichirou. "Are you sure you'll be okay from here?" she asked. "Jouji is still around..."

"I'm going with Morikita-sensei, directly to her and her husband's dojo." Ichirou pulled away some of his stray hair out of his face, his eyes a little nervous. "My father just gave me permission to leave this country. I want to find work of my own, and train at the dojo." He turned around in his shabby robes, and walked towards Morikita.

The three ninja watched the master pull Ichirou over with her arm, like a welcoming mother. Tenten moaned in envy. "Ichirou-san is so lucky. He gets money from his dad to train in swordsmanship. All we do is work!"

"We gain experience, through _real life_." Sasuke began to walk away.

Naruto's head whipped towards him. "Wait a minute, Sakura-chan might still be here!"

"She's not here," Sasuke muttered. Oddly, the corner of his lips suggested an ironic grin, as if he knew a powerful secret. "Let's get back to Konoha."

Naruto grabbed a hold of Sasuke's collar. "That's all your attitude amounts to?" he growled in anger. "Your... _effort_, to find her?"

"Where's Lee?" Tenten suddenly asked.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, who was still holding the front of his shirt. That was a good question. Through all this havoc, what _had_ Lee been doing?

Naruto gave a sheepish laugh, letting go of Sasuke's collar. "Lee was a little drunk... so I led him to the cherry blossom grove, and locked him up in a barrier."

"What?" Tenten was now worried for Lee's current physical state, especially if he had been intoxicated. "Lead me to him, quick!" When she saw Naruto's nervousness, she held up a glistening kunai for him to see.

Naruto got the warning. "This way." He dashed off towards the cherry blossom grove. 'Please let him be there, please let him be there...' The blond faintly heard Tenten and Sasuke behind him stop running. He then noticed a tall figure standing on the dirt road, holding up a hand. Naruto passed him by.

"Good evening, Naruto-kun!" Lee greeted.

"Same to you, good—" Naruto skidded in his tracks. "Lee! You're awake — and _sober_!"

Tenten and Sasuke walked up to the green-clad shinobi, who was now doing stretching exercises out in the street. "Naruto-kun, thank you for that barrier." He curled his left arm behind his head. "I haven't had such a great sleep in ages. And a great dream..."

Sasuke frowned at the blissful sigh Lee gave off. And those two perfectly-circular spots of red on his cheeks... 'Disgusting,' Sasuke thought. The martial artist looked like he was in heaven.

"Damn." Tenten pulled out a small jar with a sigh. "Tsunade-sama had prepared this anti-drunk potion, too."

"Anti-drunk potion?" Naruto stared at Tenten. "Don't be kidding me. There's no such thing."

"Now there is," Tenten said, in defense of her idol. "You just put a little bit on the gums of the person in question, and it helps get the alcohol out of the bloodstream. Like those tubes of pure-carbohydrate that some diabetics carry around, in case they have an attack... hey, are you listening?"

Naruto was crouched on the side of the street, mumbling to himself. "Five hundred shadow-clones, all destroyed... My bones nearly crushed... And that little jar could have calmed..."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. He wondered why Tsunade, of all people, made an anti-drunk potion. Was she not the one who loved sake? Sasuke was still ignorant of Lee's 'thing' with alcohol. "What did you see?" he asked the martial artist.

Lee cupped his cheeks with both hands, and closed his eyes. "She came to remove my pain," he murmured like a sonneteer, "and took away my heart."

Tenten was horrified at the all-to-familiar, cheesy wording of Lee's lines. "Who the hell—" the kunoichi started. Finding no words, she forced her attention on a nearby log, and began to stomp on it. 'Damn it! Lee's acting like a lovesick fool again! What kind of girl... URRGH!' Something akin to jealousy boiled within her. Or just protectiveness over her teammate. Lee could be so naïve at times...

Naruto watched as Sasuke's aura grow darker. "Um... Sasuke?" He felt as thought he were speaking to a ticking bomb. "Are we going to find Sakura or not?"

There was a pause.

"...No," Sasuke decided. "The Hokage will get angry at us if we take too long." Sasuke glanced at Naruto. "Moreover, you sensed it too, right? Your _girlfriend_."

Naruto's face changed, to that of uncertain ease. That Sasuke had been alerted as well, he had not known. "Hinata? She's safely in Konoha now. Protected."

"From the outside, maybe."

Naruto's jaw tightened. "And she's in a huge fort of a mansion, with relatives."

Sasuke looked at his rival. "Is she protected there, or _confined_?" he challenged. The raven-haired ninja took the lead of the walking group, leaving Naruto within his own silence.

Honestly, Sasuke was worried about Hinata's situation. He had been hearing enough ghosts around the Hyuuga mansion to guess what might happen to the Priestess, if they did not arrive home quickly. Those eyes of her relatives must have picked up on the Yasanagi no Magatama by now.

The case for Sakura would have to be on hold for now. It was better to be satisfied with one bird in the hand, than let go of it in hopes of catching one flying by.

Besides, they still had a good chance of finding the escaped bird in the future. Sasuke let off a dark smirk. 'I'd better leash her before she turns into more of a tramp.'

His evil-lord demeanor fell apart in marbles, when he heard more yelling in the background. Tenten was shaking Lee to get out of his stupor. Lee was still in something of a love-hypnosis. Naruto had his arms crossed, deep in worried thought; no doubt Sasuke had planted the seed of doubt a bit too deep in the fertile ground of Naruto's imagination. Well, the last one probably was a good thing.

A newly-dead ghost sat near a Buddha statue along the trail. 'Got a ryou to spar?' he asked Sasuke.

"Amitabha," Sasuke chanted, not letting go of a single coin as he passed the dead beggar and statue alike.

'I only need that when I'm dead, you miser!' the spectre shouted, which of course nobody but Sasuke and Naruto could hear.

'Hurry up and go to heaven,' Naruto prayed, setting a coin at the statue's feet. He soon regretted it: the ghost had reached for the offering, only to have his hand pass through it. The spirit immediately began to wail at his odd confinement. 'What a depressing ability this is.'

* * *

Notes:

Yes, corsets did cause problems of fertility for women, back in the day.

"Amitabha" - this is brief incantation to the Amida-butsu, the Buddha of the Western Paradise, to receive souls of the dead into the afterlife.

"-chan" - I had first thought that this originated as a cutsy form of "-san", but it's not. It actually traces back to 'Genghis Kahn'. Interesting, huh?

Carbohydrate paste: some diabetics carry around this stuff, usually in tubes that look like toothpaste. If a diabetic is low on blood sugar, you can just apply the stuff to their gums. Since it is pure carbohydrate, it goes directly in their bloodstream from there. A better-known way to care for hypoglycemia is to just give table sugar.

"Kugi" - means 'nail'.

Some people are probably mad that I didn't include in a description of duel between Sasuke's and Potamos' teams... But I could not do it, because then Sasuke would figure out way too early that his target was wrong, and Sakura would have slim chance to run away! And according to the rules of the tournament, everybody does not have to fight with everybody else. Just four other teams. Fighting everybody would stretch such a tournament to an agonizing length, both in real life and in written description.

Was that genjutsu-technique of Sakura too evil? I still can't believe I did such a thing to sweet Lee. He's one of my favorite characters, too. But I'm just trying to keep in with his character: he'd be the one out of that four-man cell to take his longest in trying to convince Sakura. His kindness causes him to let down his guard, in this case... But at least he got a hot vision. And I promise he won't be traumatized afterwards.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	36. Second Escape

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

"Quotations"

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 36: Second Escape

* * *

A light breeze traveled through an open window. Leaning out of it slightly, Hinata breathed in the scent of the spring air. The wind was biting yet clean in its lingering chill.

Hinata stood in the large gathering room of the Hyuuga mansion. Only used for clan discussions, it was pale-colored and rigidly symmetric. A vase of flowers occasionally adorned it at the corner the room, but that was rare. The only thing grand about the place was its impossible size.

Hinata did not know why, but she had an inkling that there was something important about this room. It had been nothing yesterday. But as she walked by it, earlier in the morning, the Priestess felt a mysterious atmosphere about it. Several emotions came to her mind, as if they had laced the air of the room like dust. Anxiety, Hinata recognized. But also hope for warmth.

Hinata contemplated the sunset for a minute or so, before her white eyes closed in dreamlike longing. 'I wonder how Naruto-kun is doing on the mission.' Her cheeks glowed a healthy pink. She rested her chin in her folded arms, and closed her eyes, daydreaming.

Her sweet fantasies were interrupted by a low voice.

"Hinata?"

Hiashi stood at the open doorway. Like a cat caught stealing, Hinata pulled herself off the window panel, and faced her father. Judging from the dimmed sunlight in the room, and how refreshed yet stiff she felt, she must have fallen asleep against the window just now. "Otou-sama, good evening." Her torso making an awkward bow.

Hiashi looked uncomfortable, as if he had not expected anybody else to be in the room. "What are you doing here?"

"I tried doing a bit of dusting..." Hinata swallowed as the feather-duster rolled against her thigh, clean and unused. 'How could I fall asleep like that?' she mentally berated herself.

In truth, Hinata had not slept well the previous night. She had been worrying about Hiashi, about why he had fidgeted during their meeting yesterday. A normal person would have seen the same old, stoic Hyuuga patriarch, but Hinata's eyes had detected the distress in her father. It was there, even now.

"I see," Hiashi grunted. "Thank you." It was pretty obvious that he did not care how Hinata cared for the house. Everyone in the family was required to chip in anyway.

There was a silence. After a moment, Hinata slowly raised her head. Her pale eyes glanced upward. What she saw made her soul freeze.

Her father's frame was towering, bathed in the red glow of the sunset. His hand reached over towards Hinata. She felt two fingers touch the her forehead, past some straying bangs. Hiashi's hands were damp with perspiration.

She did not know what to make of this. This was the first time in several years that Hiashi made any physical contact with her.

"Forgive me, Hinata."

Hiashi paused, reading the sudden bewilderment in Hinata's pale eyes. It soon disappeared from her face, however. He watched her eyelids slowly droop.

Hiashi's fingertips glowed with chakra. The Byakugan spread around his cheeks, making webs of pulsing nervousness.

Hiashi tightened his lips. For a moment, he shut his eyes. He did not want to do this. But it was for the safety of the clan. At the very least, he wanted to do this himself. It would be better than leaving the duty to his uncle Kugi, who had more than once administered the cursed seal in a fit of clumsiness, giving the victim more than the necessary pain. If Hinata were to take it, Hiashi at least wanted her to receive it as comfortably as possible...

"Do it quickly, Otou-sama."

Hiashi's eyes shot open. He was surprised to see Hinata holding a face of calm. He had partially expected her to be frozen in fear. But now she sat stoically before him.

"You already knew about the elders' discussion?" Hiashi asked.

"Yes." Hinata gave a clear, spoken answer, for nodding would have meant shrugging away her father's glowing hand. "I briefly saw you and the elders speaking in the warehouse. Although I could not hear..." Hinata's voice trailed off.

She had done it: confessed to eavesdropping. Hinata closed her eyes once more, waiting for impact. If her father was going to react through a harsher administration of the cursed seal, the very least she could do now was to remain in absolute silence for the remaining period. She did not have to mention Hanabi's involvement.

Hiashi's fingers twitched, making a brief rake through his daughter's hair. "Your intuition was always good." His high impression of her now slowly turned to anger. "Why are you giving in so _willingly_?"

"For our family's safety." Hinata kept a serene face, her eyes still closed in peaceful resign. "It's true that I fear the cursed seal, Otou-sama," she said, "but I fear more the possible destruction of my family members, because of my inadequacy. In the case I am captured by other shinobi, and they find out the Byakugan's secrets, the clan's destruction would be my fault."

Hiashi felt his teeth grind. Humility and filial piety were ideals that any traditional family emphasized. Hinata was surely the perfect epitome of those virtues. But she held them not because of a sense of duty or honor. She held them out of pure love for her relatives. Even if they did little to return it. They felt fear towards her, as a liability on the clan. They had some care for her as a member of their extended family, but it was meager compared to that distrust.

The patriarch's face tightened. Why was she taking it, with so much love? She had been taught only endurance, to bite down on any hardship that came her way. But to take the final step, the cursed seal, with so much love, was different. Hinata had learned that from something else.

"Please, Otou-sama," Hinata said. "Quickly."

* * *

Naruto stepped past the Konoha gates. A chill crawled up his skin. He felt something wrong in the air.

"What are you doing Naruto?" Tenten called, standing at the next street corner along with Lee and Sasuke. "You're slow!"

"Oh, sorry!" The blond hurried towards the group, continuing their way to the Hokage's office. Naruto felt uneasy. Now and then, when he returned from a mission and Hinata was still in town, she would come out to welcome him back. It was not exactly obsession on her part; she practiced her Byakugan almost daily, so it was not difficult for her to spot him.

Naruto shrugged her absence off. It was not like she was obliged to welcome him back from every single mission of his; Hinata had her own obligations. Maybe she had taken a mission herself while he was gone.

Naruto halted in his steps. It was a full moon tonight. There were several blurs on the rooftops in the northwestern direction.

His blue eyes glanced upward. 'This feeling...' The blond ninja stood there for a while, studying the men. Naruto's stature froze. The shinobi on the rooftops had all one characteristic: they were all Hyuuga.

"Naruto," Sasuke muttered, a dark tint in his voice, "Let's go."

Naruto gave a curt nod. The two instilled chakra in their legs, and sprinted towards the Hyuuga mansion.

Naruto felt a pebble give way under his sandal. He simply grit his teeth, and stuck his other foot in the right direction. As he twisted his torso slightly to keep himself in balance, he briefly saw the apprehensive look on Sasuke's face. "Easy, Sasuke. You look like bloody murder."

Sasuke, meanwhile, was almost shaking. The quietness of the streets, the horrific déjà vu, the innocent face of Hyuuga Hinata, all jumbled together in a bloody mess in his head. The possibility of strife within the Hyuuga was very possible. He just hoped it was nowhere near what had happened a decade ago.

The two slowed down as they reached the gates. Naruto stared at the vacant area. 'No guards?' He swallowed, and gave one glance to Sasuke, who nodded. The two walked slowly through the gate.

Sasuke's black eyes rolled over the mansion. "The west wing," he muttered to Naruto.

Naruto huffed. "Right."

Naruto did then something which no other ninja would ever consider as a good strategy: he ran straight into the hallways, directly to the shouji-doors made of wooden lattice and rice paper, and opened them. Inside the room sat a group of Hyuuga, who did not look at all pleased that an outsider intruded upon their discussion.

An exasperated Sasuke only watched from the ground, refraining from putting his dirty sandals on the open hallway that encircled the mansion. At least Naruto had enough manners to kick off his shoes before planting his feet into the house. 'But what if we need to run?' the Uchiha thought to himself.

At the sight of the Kyuubi's vessel, one of the elders roared. "What is the meaning of this? What are the guards doing?"

Neji refrained from rolling his eyes; telling the truth was sharp enough. "They probably went off to help find Hinata-sama."

At Neji's words, Naruto turned his face towards Hiashi. Common sense would have dictated to him that he was stupid, barging into the Hyuuga mansion without so much as grace, and furthermore looking at its patriarch directly in the eye. But sense was lost on Naruto as of now. "Hinata's gone?" Instead of worry, there was something of anger in his voice. His blue eyes glared at Hiashi. "What did you _do_ to her?"

Sasuke's dark eyes narrowed as he watched from the ground. Naruto was committing a major breach of etiquette, not only looking at one's elder in the face, but also hinting an accusation.

One of the branch members sneered at the blond-haired chuunin. "What business do you have, barging into the mansion as such?"

"Keep quiet," Hiashi ordered. "Naruto has a right to know."

At this statement, the roomful of Hyuuga stared at Hiashi. So did Naruto. For a moment, Hiashi appeared extremely weary. Was he really that old?

Hiashi breathed. "I put a cursed seal on Hinata late this afternoon."

Any sympathy that Naruto had held for Hiashi vanished at that point.

"By dinnertime, she was gone from the mansion," the Hyuuga patriarch said in a resigned manner. "Nobody has seen her in the village since then."

Naruto looked around at the silent Hyuuga, sitting together at the same-leveled table, supposedly as equals. But the seating arrangement was exactly the same. The head at the end of the room, with corresponding rankings down to the door. It was always the same. Everybody in this family looked the same, almost clones. Did they think the same way as well? Well, at least Neji tried to escape his fate...

"Naruto, you're making a stir," Neji said, grimness hanging about him. "I suggest you leave."

...That was what Naruto had thought, anyway.

The blond shinobi was shaking at the fists. Sasuke, listening from around the corner of the house, was seriously concerned that Naruto was going to say something stupid, like that their family was a bunch of morons, or that they were too inbred, or some other insult. Naruto would say the truth, in any case, but it would still be hard truth, laced with immature words. 'Just shut up, Naruto,' Sasuke prayed, knowing full well Naruto probably would not listen to him even he did speak it out, 'Insulting the Hyuuga clan will _not_ help us.'

"You guys... need serious help." Naruto's head was down, his teeth exposed. "There's got to be a better way than this, taking care of a clan." He suddenly pointed at Neji, his eyes angry. "You! I thought you had decided to protect Hinata, after bullying her over the inter-branch political crap!"

Neji's pale eyes creased. "Naruto," he stated in a warning tone. Why was the boy bringing up age-old embarrassments?

Naruto turned to Hiashi. "And YOU! I might not be in any position to know, but isn't it a parent's duty to protect their children?" His voice was half-rage, and half-crying. "Instead of physically _going_ out there to search for Hinata, you have a cozy emergency meeting in the house?"

Another voice came in. "Please, Naruto, do not speak that way to Hiashi-sama. It is my fault."

Naruto looked up. He saw Hinata's great-uncle, Kugi, hunched over the table.

A haggard sigh escaped the old man. "I was the one who pushed the girl to see Hiashi-sama," Kugi said. "I did not think she would immediately take the offer. Usually things like the cursed seal are met with some resistance, so I thought that once she heard it, we could talk it over with her as a family first."

"Some family." Naruto snorted, turning away. He paused for a moment. He then spun his head back to Kugi. "Wait, what did you say Hinata did?"

"Hinata accepted to have her forehead sealed, willingly and without resistance." Hiashi folded his arms, letting the sleeves of his kimono hide his hands completely. "The only thing that is troubling us now, technically, is that she is nowhere to be found."

"Then why are you _sitting here_?" Naruto's voice ended with a roar. 'This family is so goddamn systematic! Meetings, meetings, meetings, and nothing actually done!'

Not wanting to further mess up his reputation to his potential in-laws (Iruka had lectured him to at least _think _about asking them for Hinata's hand), Naruto walked out of the room. Well, it was more like he stomped.

The blond ninja swung his heels over the edge of the outside hallway, and hastily tied the sandals back on his feet. By the time he strode past the gates of the Hyuuga estate, Naruto's back was as straight and rigid as a wooden board.

Sasuke blew a stray hair out of his face. It was sticking to his skin, thanks to the perspiration that the recent conversation brought. Sasuke was amazed that his rival had walked out of that house without using a vulgarity.

Naruto suddenly halted in his tracks. He turned to Sasuke, who followed him. "Do you think that old man Kugi was possessed?"

Sasuke immediately dismissed the possibility. "No." He flipped his blue-and-silver omamori in a hand. "This didn't react at all when we approached the Hyuuga grounds. No strange chakra, no wards."

"Why didn't they have guards?" asked Naruto.

"They don't need them," said Sasuke.

"Oh, right. Byakugan." Naruto looked back. "They don't _need_ guards at the front gate, except to greet people." He sighed in annoyance. "They're only there to uphold the image of their house security."

"Image is everything with clans," Sasuke said.

The anger in Naruto's face finally drained away. He could not stand it anymore. "I'll start searching the north end of the village," he said, his voice beginning to turn hollow. "Sasuke, you go inform Tsunade-no-baachan, if she doesn't know yet."

Sasuke gave a nod, before raising half of a Tiger-In to his lips. His form vanished in a whirl of leaves.

* * *

(( A tiny voice piped up through the wind. "Okaa-sama!"

A woman with short, blue hair turned to the source of the voice. She knelt down. "Hinata-chan." She outstretched her arms, catching her three-year-old daughter. She lifted the small girl up. "You know such polite language already?"

Hinata giggled. "Okaa-sama! Okaa-sama!" she chirped, only repeating what the elders had taught her.

The woman gave a tired smile. "Are formalities all you learn?" She stroked the girl's hair, earning another shriek of laughter. ))

* * *

Hinata woke up with a start. 'Mother?' She felt something cold, yet fuzzy and comfortable around her skin. The scent of clean earth wafted around her nose.

The Priestess slowly got up. She saw that her bed was of fine moss, and perks of grass. 'How did I get here?' She carefully looked around. 'The last thing I remember was Otou-sama putting his hand on my head to give the seal...'

Hinata sat still. It slowly dawned on her, that she did not remember at all the process of receiving the cursed seal. Neither did she remember how she ended up in this odd grove. The trees around her were nothing native to Konoha.

She put a hand to her temple. There was a bandage wound around her forehead. Her eyes closed in resignation. Hinata curled her knees to her chest. She wanted to cry. 'Well, it's not _too _bad to have on,' some part of her thought stubbornly. It was only a cooling sensation around her eyelids. Her forehead itself did not burn, as she had presumed was a usual symptom following the administration of the cursed seal. 'Still...'

Hinata shivered, and rubbed her shoulders. 'How long have I been asleep?' She hastily set her legs on the ground, and stood up — only to flop back down on the mossy carpet, dizzy. Getting up so quickly had caused the blood to rush up into her brain. As she lay there, Hinata felt a cool breeze touch her skin, airing through the bandages around her forehead.

Now that she thought about it, Hinata did not feel like getting up. Not so soon. It had been a long time while she had felt peace like this. She hardly ever had time to contemplate and enjoy such a warm landscape. She studied her surroundings: the trees here were thinner than the species around Konoha. Their branches swayed in the wind with graceful flexibility; Hinata was reminded of seaweed growing in the ocean.

Unfortunately, humans could not live on air alone. Not even the Priestess of Souls.

A growl of hunger emitted from Hinata's stomach. She sat up, a pink tint to her cheeks. The meeting with her father had been in the evening, before she could even have dinner. Now it looked like it was noon. She had to find food. Hinata slowly pulled herself up. Satisfied that both of her legs were working, she walked towards the closest thing to a grocery store for all shinobi: a forest.

As Hinata walked in, she noticed that it was a lot brighter than the forests surrounding Konoha. More sunlight. That could have meant a greater variety of vegetation.

A few spots of red appeared in front of Hinata. Berries. She began to reach for the perfectly round fruits, when her fingers stopped. The berries looked very much like the edible rose hips — so sour, that even its tea was a citric knife through the tongue, but it was still edible. But there also existed a poisonous variety of berries that looked similar.

The kunoichi's stomach growled in protest. Hinata mentally shut it out; she did not want to die from food poisoning just because of weak will. There just _had_ to be something else. Hinata crossed her fingers together, hoping for the best. 'Byakugan!'

The veins spread around Hinata's cheeks. She was relieved that no pain came from using the Byakugan after her forehead was sealed.

But there were no animals in the vicinity! What kind of forest was this?

She looked around more. There was another person on the other side of the forest.

Hinata swallowed. She adjusted her vision to focus more on the person: it was an elderly lady, picking wild flowers. Young chrysanthemums, Hinata identified. Their stems and leaves were edible. Hinata could not help but think of making sukiyaki with them. Oh, but to have that sort of dish, one also needed beef...

The old woman seemed to be limping. Hinata instinctively began to walk forward. When the lady fell, dropping her basket, the kunoichi found herself running towards her.

"Oooh..." The elderly woman massaged her foot, hoping to ease it. She was tempted to shout out the next moment: a dirty yet pretty girl stepped cautiously out of a tree's shadow.

"Obaa-sama, are you alright?" Hinata offered a hand to the old woman, who accepted it. When the elderly woman gave out a pained hiss, the kunoichi realized that she had suffered a sprain in that fall. Hinata carefully guided the woman's arm around the back of her neck. The kunoichi leaned down for a moment to pick up the basket of chrysanthemums, before straightening up again with the lady. "Which way do you need to go?"

The elderly woman looked at her. To Hinata's surprise, her expression showed something of pity. "What are you doing in these parts, child?" she asked. "It's dangerous here, especially for a girl your age."

Hinata swallowed. She knew she would sound a bit silly, but here it went. "What is this place?"

"Eh?" The old lady gripped Hinata's sleeve. Hinata realized that the wrist was quaking. "You don't know where you are?" Hinata only shook her head. "Ah. You're lost, I see." She gave a sigh. "You poor thing. You are in the northern fields of the Stone Country."

Hinata almost choked. The Stone Country? And in its northern part, no less? Very few Leaf-shinobi made it here; the Hidden Stone Village made enough of a barricade.

"Where are you from?" The woman suddenly gave a mischievous grin. "Were you spirited here by a god? Are you a kamikakushi?"

Again, Hinata almost choked. "I-I... I've never experienced... I mean, I don't remember very well..."

"I was only kidding you, dear child." The woman patted Hinata's arm in gratitude. "You are such a nice young lady, accompanying me like this. My village will be visible, once we reach the top of this hill."

Hinata's pearly eyes were open with wonder as she walked upward. There was grass — miles and miles of grass — but also solid blocks of rock, coated with grass and moss. "This stone landscape is amazing," Hinata said between breaths. She had to be careful not to step into a hidden crack. "I almost feel like I'm walking over an ancient civilization."

"You are." The old woman cackled at Hinata's surprise. "Seven centuries ago, this place was a dominating city. Like all great empires, it fell."

Hinata briefly remembered the history of wars. "This... is the site of the Four Tengu?"

"The great birds themselves. Ah, I could tell you stories that my grandmother told me."

The two were just about to reach the top of the small mountain, when the lady stiffened. Hinata glanced down with concern. "Obaa-sama?" Hinata then felt herself rudely pushed away. She grabbed onto a weed-covered boulder in support.

"Run, child!" the woman pleaded, clutching onto the ground. "They're coming!" Her arm swung outwards.

Hinata looked up. Two blurs appeared before her. One of them stopped, clutching his forehead. The old woman Hinata accompanied had thrown a pebble straight between his eyes.

With a spot of dark red on his face, the bandit glared at the lame woman on the ground. He pulled a throwing knife from the folds of his coat. "You senile hag!"

There was a light thump behind him. The man only briefly glanced back, before he felt a searing pain in his gut. His form slumped against Hinata's palm. His partner was already unconscious behind her.

The woman sat, amazed at the young girl's speed. "Did you... just..."

Hinata immediately recognized that look. "They're not dead. I just struck several points. It will render them unconscious for several hours." She walked over, and knelt down to the woman. "How is your ankle? I hope—" Hinata's voice ended in a surprised squeak, when she suddenly felt her hands grasped tightly.

"You are familiar with acupuncture?" the elderly lady asked, excitement in her voice.

"A... little," Hinata answered weakly. She was not prepared to explain the frightening combat-style that her family used, much less that her eyes could see the innards of people. Hinata then noticed a bracelet adorning the elderly woman's wrist. It took her a little while to recognize the tiny kanji etched into the metal plate. "You're a pharmacist?"

"Yes. My husband and I run the pharmacy in our village. But we're in need of another hired hand."

Hinata's face turned crimson. She crash-landed into the Stone Country, and within an hour of waking, she was already offered a job? "But... I don't have a pharmaceutical license!"

The old woman scrutinized the nervous Hinata. There was a long pause. Then, she pointed a finger at the basket. "Those plants!" she barked. "Tell me what those are, and what they're useful for. NOW!"

Hinata squeaked at the sudden question. Her voice went on like an automatic machine. "Chrysanthemums. The stems and leaves can be cooked as a vegetable, and are high in vitamins. Its flowers are also edible, and can be dried for making a tea-like drink—" The Priestess then saw the spreading grin on the old woman's face. Hinata inwardly sweated. It only had been her instant reaction to give an answer to a sudden quiz, especially when it involved the subject of botany! She was now trapped.

"Good! You have a basic understanding of herbs." The pharmacist then did something that, again, made Hinata feel awkward. She put her hands to the ground, and bowed her head to the ground. "Could you please, just stay in our village for a few days?" The old woman looked up, her eyes pleading. This only made Hinata feel worse, having a person who was obviously her elder going down to such a humble position. And who knew that granny-eyes could be so cute? "My husband is ill, and I am the only one in the village besides him who practices acupuncture. If you could just help care for some of our patients... We will give you food and lodging in exchange!"

Hinata sighed in defeat. The poor woman looked desperate. And even if Hinata wanted to leave, she could not do so without facing a huge risk. A journey through the Stone Country was perilous in certain areas. She would have to collect data where those were, and meticulously plan a safe route of escape.

As Hinata thought about it further, she realized that she did not feel like going home anytime soon. The incident of the cursed seal made her want to hide herself a little while longer from Konoha. Hinata was not mad at her father. She just did not feel like seeing his face at the moment.

Besides, Hinata was the one who had been antsy within Konoha, all because of the possibility of youkai-demons appearing in other places. She had already cleansed the Hidden Leaf Village with one blessing. It would be unfair to use her supernatural gifts only for one village.

There was just one glitch in this thrown-together plan of Hinata. Her boyfriend.

Naruto would surely be upset. Hinata had not even left him an explanation of why she was absent from Konoha.

On the other hand, he had spent several years traveling with Jiraiya, not seeing any of his friends. Naruto was not the type to have a mental breakdown. He never gained a grudge against Sasuke for abandoning the village. Sure, Naruto had punched the Uchiha when he came back, but he only accused him of being an idiot, not a traitor. Neither did he mope, as he had proved back in his days of trying and failing to get a date with Sakura.

'I feel bad. Tsunade-sama will surely send out the message to other Konoha-nin that I'm missing. And Naruto-kun would be so worried...' Supporting the old woman, Hinata carefully walked towards the small village, which did not span even a fourth of Konoha's total area. 'But Naruto-kun would understand, I'm sure.'

"By the way," said the elderly woman, "those bandages on your head are much too tightly wound."

The pharmacist's voice broke Hinata away from her dozed state. The kunoichi realized in horror, that the well-meaning lady was already loosening the cloth. When the last piece feathered over Hinata's nose, the old woman's eyes widened in shock.

Hinata clasped her hands over her forehead, trying to keep the gauze on. "NO!"

* * *

Notes:

"kamikakushi" - means 'being hidden by a kami'. The Japanese title of the film "Spirited Away" is "Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi", or 'Sen and Chihiro's Kamikakushi.'

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	37. New Family

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

It's already late in the evening, but to those who celebrate it in Japan: Happy Girl's Day! The third day of the third month!

"Quotations"

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 37: New Family

* * *

Hinata's fists crumpled, giving a vague shield over her forehead. "Please, don't..."

This made the old woman even more concerned. "What is it?"

Hinata fumbled for an explanation. "My face... It's — it's hideous!"

The pharmacist moved away Hinata's sweating fists. She eyed the girl critically. "There is nothing wrong with your face, dear." She re-tightened the bandages on the girl's head, although more loosely than what they had started out as. "But if you're injured, we can look closer at it in the village. You can buy new makeup later."

The pharmacist leaned back onto Hinata. The girl resumed the walk, stunned. As they neared the village, the word churned in Hinata's mind: _makeup_?

Hinata was not wearing makeup. Nor had she ever worn it, for that matter. She had experimented with a bit of her mother's lipstick once (she wiped it off as soon as she saw how ridiculous it looked on her), but no hard-core powders had ever touched her cheeks. Did this nice, elderly pharmacist imply that Hinata _needed_ makeup?

"What is your name?" the woman asked.

"Ah, um... Hinata."

A pause. The old woman waited, as if expecting something more. Hinata looked away.

The old woman blinked, and turned back down to the ground with a wry smile. It was understandable that Hinata did not want to reveal her family name. Runaways, especially those who had escaped difficult families, were naturally inclined to stop using them. "My name is Taketori Natsumi," she said, bringing light back into the atmosphere. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"N-no, the pleasure is all mine!" Hinata said quickly.

Villagers stared as the odd pair walked the streets: a lamed pharmacist with a foreign girl. As the glances increased in number, Hinata slowly became self-conscious of her appearance. Bits of dirt and moss littered her clothes, and she did not even know how her hair looked like with the bandages. She could not glance at her reflection in a window pane, for there was no such thing in this village. Glass was a substance foreign to the old buildings.

Perhaps lack of a mirror was a good thing. Hinata was not tempted to stop walking until she reached the pharmacy. Any villager with whom she crossed ways kept looking after her, the stranger that she was. Hinata just hoped that there were no ninja here who sought the Byakugan.

Wait... Technically, Hinata did not have to worry about that anymore. At least, not as much as she used to. If any shinobi interested in the Byakugan killed her, her head would already be sealed. The worse scenario was if the enemy captured her alive, and tortured her for information.

'Death would actually be a better option,' Hinata realized. 'Because once my life-stream stops flowing, the cursed seal would begin to disintegrate my eyes and brain matter, making my corpse useless to them. If I'm dead, my family's safe.' Her pale eyes sharpened in determination. 'That means if I'm captured and kept alive, I'll have to fight all the harder. They'll still try to find the secrets of the Byakugan by other means.'

Hinata swallowed, trying not to angst over what 'other means' would mean. It would accomplish nothing except to drive her insane. She had to invest her mental strength in learning pharmaceuticals, and develop small battle strategies. Maybe she could train her taijutsu at night.

The wooden slabs of the front gate slid open before Hinata's eyes. Hinata looked up for a brief moment, and saw a decaying wooden sign of the roof. The kanji were fading on its darkening background, but still somewhat legible. -Apothecary-

'A little rustic,' Hinata thought. 'But nice.' Once inside, she saw a second wooden fence, separating one corner of the property. It held a mysterious crack of gray, a color made Hinata wonder what exactly was behind it.

The two women stepped into the genkan, the small area of the house entrance where shoes and umbrellas were left.

"Tadaima!" the elderly women called into the small hallway. She waited a moment. She sighed at the lack of an answer, and turned to Hinata. "My husband is probably asleep." Hinata only nodded in response, and leaned down to assist the limping woman to take off her shoes. "Oh, no," the woman said, "Just let me sit on the edge. You do the same."

Hinata complied, letting the old woman down first. Immediately afterwards, Hinata found herself sitting on the clean, upraised floor of the hallway, while her legs dangled over the stone-floor of the genkan. Taking off her sandals felt like having the very ocean wash her feet; the air felt so clean through her sweaty toes.

Hinata turned her head, and saw that Natsumi was already waiting for her. The geta-shoes of wood that she wore outside were easy to slip off.

Hinata hurried to step up. "I'm sorry!"

"No, no. Take your time. You're the guest."

As Hinata walked the small corridor with the pharmacist's arm over her shoulder, she carefully studied the architecture. It was a rather small place, with a cramped hallway, and gnarly carvings upon the posts. The fusuma sliding-doors were tan with age, yet clean. Extremely clean. Not a speck of dust touched them.

The two walked towards another room. Separating it from the main hallway was not a door, but a hanging cloth with a long slit in the middle. Hinata lightly pushed it away, and entered with Natsumi at her shoulder.

An old man with silvery hair slept, curled up against a kotatsu — a table with a heated furnace underneath, and long trimming of blankets. He started awake at the unexpected entrance. He gave a toothy yawn, and welcomed his wife back. "Oh, Natsumi, okaerinasai." He squinted at the crunched-together pair. "You look awfully blown up..."

The old woman sighed. Her nimble fingers picked a pair of glasses from the kotatsu's table-top. The instant she set the glasses upon her husband's nose, he started away from Hinata. "A-A young girl?"

"This is Hinata," Natsumi introduced. "She will be our assistant from now on, and receive food and lodging." Not even giving her husband a chance to protest, she turned to a worried-looking Hinata. "We cannot pay you much in hard cash, but we do have a guest room you can use. I'm sorry for the narrow hallways."

"No, you show me too much kindness." Hinata found her index fingers twiddling once more. She forcefully clamped her hands together, and looked up. "I will do my best to prove myself useful." Still not convinced that she was completely welcome in the house, she set her hands upon the floor, and bowed her head all the way to the ground. "Please, Ojii-sama, Obaa-sama — take good care of me!"

The old man was startled at Hinata's behavior. His eyes immediately softened. "Now, now. Sit up." His face showed that he was impressed, even embarrassed, of her presence in his home. "I am Taketori Murashi. You are welcome in my house. Ah, it's been a while since I've taken up a worthy apprentice..." He saw the nervousness in Hinata's face, and chuckled. "I am sure you will do fine. Natsumi would not have invited just any girl over."

"Hinata, could you help me cook dinner?" Natsumi asked.

"Ah, yes!" The blue-haired girl stood up, leaving the old man to nod off at the kotatsu. Hinata followed the old woman Natsumi to the kitchen, carrying the basket of fresh herbs with her. "Obaa-sama, what about your ankle?"

"The pain is not as bad. I manage by limping." Soft, gentle lines crinkled across the old woman's face as she smiled. "It's probably nothing, but I'll have Murashi take a look at it when he sleeps off his cold."

Hinata walked into the kitchen, amazed at its cleanliness. It was a very tiny enclosure, not even spanning a fifth of the Hyuuga kitchen. But it was so tidy that it was pretty. The dishes stood in the rack, the folded rags were wrung and set in their respective areas, and the sink was clean and dry. Pharmacists truly were the professional neat-freaks of society.

"Put a large pot of water on the stove, will you?" Natsumi began to wipe the table in preparation for work. "Tonight we're having curry."

Hinata heard a slight tap from the hallway. She turned quickly, only to see a fluttering piece of cloth disappearing into the dark hallway.

"What is it, Hinata?" Natsumi asked.

"Nothing." Hinata shivered. 'Did I just see a pair of eyes?' The dark-haired girl suddenly had an image of Naruto's blue eyes, sadder than she had ever seen them to be. She pulled out a large pot, and set it in the sink to fill it with water. Hinata twisted the knob on the sink rather forcefully. 'Oh, gods...' Hinata felt her eyes welling up. 'No, not now! Not in front of my hostess...'

As the water filled the pot, Hinata realized that the light above was being blocked by her head. She shifted herself to the side, and a clearer image of her face came into view. A mirror.

Her eyes immediately locked onto the bandages of her forehead. Curiosity jumped within her. It dulled the longing that she held for her home, at least for the moment. She reached up, and began to hesitantly tug at the gauze with her pinky finger.

"Hinata, Don't touch your bandages while cooking!"

In surprise, Hinata almost tipped the full pot of water over. Natsumi took it out away from the running faucet, and set it on an active burner. An embarrassed Hinata stopped the water. The old woman then grabbed Hinata's wrist, and began to pull her towards another room. "Let's going to the check-up room to examine you — oof!"

"Obaa-sama!" Hinata managed to catch her from a tough fall. "Are you alright?"

"Oh... Thank you, dear child." Natsumi put a hand over her beating heart for a moment. After a deep breath, she gently pushed herself off Hinata. "I started walking too fast." She started again, this time more slowly.

Once in the nursing room, Hinata plopped down on the tatami. She watched as Natsumi rummaged through bottles of solutions and jars of cotton. The old woman seemed to be fighting pain as she fished out the basic materials.

The kunoichi suddenly had an idea. While the old woman was distracted with finding the right bottles, Hinata folded her hands through several In.

'Byakugan!'

Her vision plunged into a world of blues and grays. Her bloodline limit was still in proper function. Hinata zoomed in on the weak ankle of her hostess. The bones in Natsumi's ankle were all in correct position, and had no fractures. The density of the bone seemed a bit lighter than average: 'Maybe a little osteoporosis,' Hinata guessed. In any case, it really was just a sprain.

"Ah, here we go!" Natsumi turned around, in which time Hinata quickly let down her veined eyes. The pharmacist limped over, and began to tenderly unwrap the bandages from Hinata's head. While her left hand held a pincer with an alcohol-soaked cotton, Natsumi's right hand fingered through the dark-blue hair, looking for any wounds that might have reopened. "Does it hurt anywhere?"

"No — Nowhere." Hinata allowed herself to relax under her hostess' care. The last person she remembered someone touching her head so softly had been her mother, back when she was three years old. "I have a little headache, but it's nothing much."

"If that headache lasts into the night, tell me." The pharmacist took a minute more to completely examine Hinata's head. "You have a goose egg on the right side. And there seems to be some sort of rash on your forehead. Do you need a mirror?"

Hinata blinked, as a mirror was held before her. She took it. She put a hand over her mouth, refraining from crying out.

There was no seal on her forehead. Her head was totally clean.

'Father... He didn't seal me...' If there had been any relief at the beginning of the discovery, it was quickly overwhelmed with dismay. 'How... how could he?' Hinata inwardly cried. 'He said he would protect the clan!'

Natsumi looked curiously at the girl's shaking form. "What is it, Hinata?" The old woman gave a quiet gasp. "Did I touch a sensitive spot? I'm sorry!"

"No. My body is fine. Really..." Hinata quickly inhaled, disguising her sob to sound more like a breathing exercise. "I'm sorry, Obaa-sama," she said in a quavering voice. "It's just that everything has been so sudden for me today."

"I'll put these back," Natsumi said, the jars clinking in her arms.

Hinata weakly nodded. Her eyes could not leave the mirror. Not only was she confused at Hiashi's decision to refrain from giving her the cursed seal of the caged bird, but there also was a slight alteration to her appearance.

The eye color was the same, pale lavender. But the shape of her eyes appeared more prominent and angular. The Priestess looked more closely: the texture of her eyelids was to be coarser, darker. She partially closed one eye, almost winking. To her amazement, it looked like a pattern of frilly tattoos were painted on her eyelids.

'It's a seal,' Hinata realized. 'Not the seal of the Caged Bird... but it's a seal.'

It was a seal on her eyelids, in other words. As Hinata blinked, she realized that it looked like she was wearing eye shadow. 'No wonder Natsumi-obaasan said I could buy more makeup if I wanted to. She thought it was powder, not a cursed seal.' The kunoichi could not help but grimace a little. It looked so unnatural and silly on a girl like her.

Hinata set down the mirror. "I don't think I need any bandages, Obaa-sama." She looked up to Natsumi. "Could I look at your ankle, for a moment?"

"Oh, that's unnecessary—"

"I want to help." Hinata knew that she sounded disrespectful, insisting upon doing medical work upon a licensed pharmacist, her obvious superior. But Hinata was determined to not be a burden in the house of her hostess. "Please, Obaa-sama."

Natsumi looked at the pleading, yet stubborn, expression on Hinata's face. The old woman could not help but sigh in resignation. She twisted her body so that her feet were near Hinata. Hinata rested Natsumi's swollen ankle on her lap, and picked up the old but clean bandages that once laced her own forehead.

"Please close your eyes."

The old woman felt a bit foolish as she did as she was told. If Natsumi had been twenty years younger, she might have even felt insulted. In terms of senior-junior relations — grandparent-to-grandchild, or master-apprentice, whatever they were — Hinata was doing the exact opposite.

Hinata briefly turned her Byakugan once more. She saw the tenketsu, the bone structure, just long enough to remember how to properly bandage a foot. Bandaging a sprain was to keep it from moving, after all. The veins receded in her cheeks, and Hinata began to work.

In no time at all, Natsumi's foot was in a stiff yet safe bandage. The pharmacist opened her eyes, and sat up. She tested the quality of the wrap, moving her foot a little. "This... is an excellent job, Hinata," she complimented, meaning every word.

The blue-haired kunoichi felt her cheeks warm. "It's the little I can do."

Hinata began to twist the jar's cap back on. She then stopped. It felt like a chill crept down over her back. The girl looked quickly behind her. The door was slightly open, showing a line of the dark hallway.

Natsumi gave a half-hearted smile at the door. "Oh, what a shy one."

Hinata looked at her. "What?"

"Never mind." The old woman got up on her own, and hobbled towards the door. "Let's start chopping the vegetables for dinner, shall we?"

* * *

Sasuke folded his hands, studying his subject.

Sitting next to him in the Ichiraku Ramen bar was Naruto. A quiet, non-smiling entity, who was eating his ramen noodles without so much as an audible slurp. In Sasuke's opinion, the sight was both fascinating and disturbing.

Even the owner and his daughter had to stare, as Naruto lifted the bowl, drank the rest of the broth, and set it quietly back on the stool. Naruto was being excessively civilized, at a commoner's restaurant where slurping was not only tolerated, but _hoped for_ by the owner as a compliment to his cooking. Naruto was acting like a stiff, quiet, and depressed gentleman.

"Oji-san," Sasuke said to the chef, "one more bowl for him." He indicated Naruto.

"Oh — yes, of course." The owner quickly went to work, ladling the broth, dumping the noodles, and arranging the cooked meats and vegetables on top. He set the fresh bowl in front of a blank-eyed Naruto. "The extra pork is on us!"

Naruto stared at the bowl. He raised up his head, and gave a smile. "Thanks, Occhan!"

When the two ramen-cooks turned around with relief, Naruto dropped the fake grin. He picked a little at the steaming ramen with his chopsticks. He pulled up one noodle with his lips, and chewed. Good taste, as always. He did not feel hungry for a second bowl, but he felt obligated to show a bit of thanks for the freebie.

"Take your time," Sasuke said.

Naruto nearly groaned. He needed a break from eating. His stomach felt full anyway, and people were fussing over him. He set his chopsticks over the bowl of ramen, and leaned back in his chair. Naruto knew that his mind was in a muddled blank. What annoyed him was that it was noticeable. Was he that much of a wreck that everybody, even Sasuke, was treating him in an unnaturally nice manner?

Sasuke decided to get to the main subject. "Hey, Naruto. About the Hyuuga family..."

"What?"

"What that Hiashi said. Don't you think it a bit strange?" Sasuke looked for a reaction in Naruto. Naruto gave him nothing. "He said 'a cursed seal', but he never said '_that_ cursed seal'."

"Is there a difference?" Naruto's chopsticks played around with a jagged slice of fishcake.

Sasuke paused. His black eyes looked dull for a brief instant. He touched the right side of his neck. "There are different types of cursed seals."

Naruto noticed the grimace on Sasuke's face. The blond then realized that Sasuke was clutching the place where Orochimaru's curse-seal had once been. Naruto began to rise from his chair. "Don't tell me that it still—"

"Sit down," the Uchiha ordered. "_I'm_ fine. What we're thinking of is Hyuuga." He let go of his neck, and folded his hands. "Maybe..."

The guttural sound of a chair stopped Sasuke from saying anything more. A new customer was entering the ramen bar. The two chuunin looked up, and their faces changed into those of disgust and horror. Naruto backed away from the entrant, and Sasuke merely looked in the opposite direction.

"What are you doing here, Bastard?" Naruto demanded Sai, who casually pulled off his ANBU mask to reveal another faked appearance.

"Hey, Dickless Wonder." Sai pulled out some papers from his jacket. He noticed the silent annoyance in the aura of Sasuke. "Still brooding over your failure to get into ANBU, Traitor?"

Sasuke refrained from even twitching. Like a cat ignoring a human, he kept his face turned away from the foul-mouthed ninja. If Naruto hated Sai for looking like Sasuke too much, Sasuke hated Sai for looking like the earlier Itachi too much, back when his brother had been all perfect, in ANBU, and had hair kept at a civilized length.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked, succeeding in looking bored.

Sai kept the gentle smile of plaster. "Can't a member of the ANBU eat his dinner among commoners without being molested?"

"I'm not hungry anymore," Naruto said, getting up. Sasuke silently agreed, and pushed his bowl away.

"Good, the air was stuffy anyway with your presence." Sai waved the wad of papers in front of his face like a fan. "Now I can study these papers concerning Ugly in peace."

Naruto and Sasuke stopped. They could neither ignore this, nor pretend to. Among all the nicknames that Sai distributed with ruthless abandon, even _they_ knew that his term 'Ugly' was for one of the least ugly ninja of the Leaf.

"That's info on Sakura-chan?" Naruto was right behind Sai's shoulders, and grabbed after the papers. "Show me!"

A feint hint of a sneer appeared on Sai's lips as he wrenched the papers out of Naruto's hands, and waved them in the air like a paintbrush on canvas. "No. These are official reports." He paused, and feigned mild surprise for the fact that the reports were gone from his hands again. The ANBU-member turned to see Sasuke reading them. Sai snatched them back, and gave a hard look over the chuunin. "I had thought for a moment, Traitor, that you were going to run off with them."

'You were _hoping_ that he'd run off with them, you mean,' Naruto thought. Sasuke was under some official 'guidelines' after performing that kick up the ANBU-trainer's jaw, and Sai knew it well as a member of the elite organization.

"Those papers are meaningless to me," Sasuke said, his voice cold and decisive. In the manner of a heartless warlord, he departed.

Naruto could only stare after him. Sasuke's most recent statement chipped away at the blond's stubborn head. 'WHAT?'

"Vegetarian salt ramen to go," Sai requested smoothly to Ayame, the ramen chef's daughter. He rolled up the papers, as Naruto disappeared and ran after Sasuke. He put a few fingers to his chin in thought.

Meanwhile, Naruto was walking after Sasuke. "What the hell do you mean, those papers don't mean anything to you?" the blond hissed in anger. When no answer was given to him, Naruto tried to figure out what the silence meant. Slowly, sometime akin to comprehension passed his face. "You'd only call those meaningless if—"

Sasuke turned, and glared at Naruto. "Shut UP."

The anger rekindled in Naruto, and for a different reason. "You... That's means for a while, you've had info on —"

"Sorry for interrupting the touching love scene," Sai said, reappearing from the shadows with a package of takeout ramen under one arm, "But I'm putting you two under arrest for illegally attempting to seize classified information."

"We're not gay!" Naruto had no problem with gay people, but the rumors about him and Sasuke seemed to be getting a little out of hand, as if the stories never died. "And WHEN did we try to seize classified information, huh?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "When we touched the papers, of course," he reminded the hyperactive blond.

"Manipulating asshole," Naruto growled at the merrily grinning Sai. No wonder the ANBU-member's speed and grip had been so weak: he had wanted Naruto and Sasuke to grab the papers, so that he in turn could have some excuse to get them into trouble. "But is that _really_ enough to warrant arrest?" Naruto asked.

Sai ignored Naruto, for the blond was doing what he wanted: staying. He did not necessarily like the babble that came out of Naruto's mouth, but what counted was that the hyperactive ninja stood in one place. Meanwhile, Sai's other target was trying to avoid the question altogether.

"Don't walk away, Uchiha," Sai called after the figure walking away. "Hey. _Traitor_." With only a sliver of a crescent moon illuminating them, Sai's expression was unreadable, and his voice had a stronger hint of urgency. "It's in your best interest if you cooperate with the search mission."

Sasuke stopped in his tracks. "Search?" He turned slightly, and glared at Sai from the corner of his red eye. "Are you still that optimistic about finding Sakura?" He spat out the name, as if it were something disgusting. "Or is it Hyuuga Hinata?"

"We have only a little information about the former," Sai admitted, "and less about the latter, since her disappearance is so recent."

"Then go away," Sasuke said.

Naruto felt his innards clench. Now, even he was getting uncomfortable with Sasuke's bitter resolve to keep things to himself. Sasuke appeared to be hiding something, and Naruto was now very sure it had to do something with Sakura's whereabouts. The main problem? Sasuke was willing to share it to no one. Either that, or he really was giving up on finding her, which Naruto sincerely hoped was not the case.

As Sasuke kept on walking, Sai took out a scroll. The ANBU-member studied its label, glancing briefly at Sasuke. "Maybe," Sai muttered, "a binding jutsu of the second level..."

Naruto exploded at both of them. "You Bastard!" he yelled at Sai. "If you want somebody as an ally, _ask_ politely first, not attack him!" The blond then turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, whatever info you're holding about Sakura, you'd better hand it over now! At least to me — we can just knock this guy out if you don't want to work with him!"

"I don't want to be lectured by you on manners," Sai said coolly to Naruto. He hid any indication that he was slightly impressed with the observation skills of the blond ninja. Both Sai and Sasuke had been trying to weasel more information concerning Sakura's whereabouts out of each other — and Naruto saw right through both of them, like a shrewd comedian taking apart society. 'For all I know, that moronic facial expression could be just a façade, like mine.'

The ANBU-member turned back to Sasuke, who now stood still in his tracks. Sai was half-expecting the avenger to attack him. Not that he was not worried for his own safety.

"Well?" Sai again lifted up the wad of papers, the leftover-but-still-edible bait. "Do we put together our reports, and go get the Hokage's permission?"

* * *

Hinata twisted within the folds of her blanket. She felt agitated. The guest room she had been given was small and cozy. But the unfamiliarity of it, jumbled with the events of the past two days, just made Hinata on edge more than she was used to. She was physically exhausted, but too paranoid to afford falling asleep just now.

She sat up from her futon bed. Natsumi had layered the otherwise traditional, on-the-floor bed with many clean sheets, claiming that the futon had been too long in the and thus had to be covered for the first night. Hinata suspected that Natsumi was trying to pamper her.

Lying on her back, Hinata folded her hands together. She performed the seals, activating her Byakugan with impassive consciousness. The kunoichi felt the flesh around her eyes swell with blood.

Her vision drifted to the south side of the house. The old couple slept peacefully in their room. The pharmacy's storage area was safely locked and bolted. Hinata shifted her sight to the east.

Hinata's eyes froze over one area: specifically, the yard. It was a wide-spanning rock garden, surrounded by the second wooden fence she had seen earlier. 'I didn't know the pharmacists were so much into Zen.' Hinata surveyed the raked lines on the thicket of pebbles. It was very monochrome, with only the gray stones and their shadows providing color — but the arrangement of stones, the raked lines, revealed much variety within such a common medium of art. 'Do they own this privately? Usually only Buddhist temples have rock gardens.'

Before she knew it, Hinata felt the corner of her eyes begin to twitch. It was a signal that her eyes were strained from the extended use of the Byakugan. She must have been contemplating too long on the garden, and dazed out like in a true meditation. She slowly backtracked her advanced vision, remembering that turning the doujutsu abruptly on and off would only fatigue her eyes.

Her vision stopped at one room, however. There was a weakly glowing dot of blue, in a room of the east wing. Hinata focused, ignoring the pleading of her eyes for rest.

Hinata froze. There was a PERSON there. Someone besides her and the Taketori couple was in the house.

Forgetting all details of her current physical state, Hinata stood up from her futon. She placed a kunai in the sleeve of her yukata, just in case she did not have enough chakra to use Jyuuken effectively. Hinata slid her door open with absolute care and silence. Using the movements that had been ingrained into her since childhood, she toed her way soundlessly to the east room.

The veins around Hinata's eyes spread once more. The figure was sitting against the wall, head tilted towards the open window, as if contemplating the moon. From the body structure, it was definitely a man. His face was difficult to make out because of her blurring vision — she could not hold the Byakugan for no more than a minute now — but for some reason, he appeared very familiar to Hinata.

Hinata stopped. She gripped the kunai in her sweaty hand, holding it behind her back.

She reached for the crevice in the door, and slid it open.

The figure looked up at the unexpected visitor. His eyes were piercing, intensely blue in color. In the minimal light that the crescent moon gave off, his jagged hair shone silver. Yet his face was as smooth and young as someone of Hinata's age.

He gave a weak smile to Hinata, as if embarrassed that she had discovered him. He tugged the right side of his yukata back up, which until now had been open, exposing part of his bare chest.

The dark-haired kunoichi stood frozen, her mouth slightly open in shock. The boy had no scars, but the haggard depths in his cheeks were similar enough to the facial marks held by the precious one Hinata had left in Konoha. It had to be an illusion, she thought.

It came out in a spontaneous, painful whisper. "Naruto-kun?"

Just as she had said it, Hinata clutched a fist to her chest. Embarrassment welled in her. Of course this person was not Naruto — Naruto was all the way back in Konoha! She was also slightly afraid that this person was a burglar of sorts, and would try to attack her. Her chakra was low, and that left her with only the kunai in her hand. Well, he did not really look like a burglar; he was only in his yukata, and barefoot...

Suddenly, Hinata felt a cold hand on her cheek. The stranger was touching her face. For some reason, her body could not move. Not to mention, she felt _stupid_. Why did she think so much about Naruto that her eyes did not keep up with the person in front of her?

Hinata recoiled. The silver-haired boy looked at her, his face terribly close to hers. A hint of sadness was in his eyes. "This 'Naruto-kun'... who is he? Is he your fiancé?"

This question knocked the breath out of Hinata. "Ah, uh..." Sweat formed on her brow. She was beginning to think that this person was no burglar. But his physical closeness certainly did not help erase her fear. No matter how much he looked like Naruto, Hinata was afraid of him. Why was he in the house? And why was he asking such an outrageous question? Her heart thudded as he stared at her. Hinata could not find herself to attack him, despite the unwelcome proximity.

"...Get out."

Hinata blinked. "Huh?" She realized, only now, of her rudeness in not answering a question when it was stated. It had often irritated her father, who wanted answers straight away in a professional manner. "I'm sorry — but — _who_ are you?"

"Get OUT!" the platinum-haired boy snarled. He shoved Hinata back. With a squeak, she tripped into the hallway. He slid the fusuma-door with an angry shut, leaving her shaken and utterly confused.

Hinata put a hand to her ruffled, dark-blue hair. 'What... what was all that about?'

* * *

Notes:

"Tadaima" - roughly translated as 'I'm home' or 'I just came back', this is a greeting one always uses when arriving home to one's family.

"Okaeri" or "Okaerinasai" - meaning 'Welcome back', it is the response to "Tadaima".

"Taketori" - 'bamboo-cutter'.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	38. Growing Storm

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Oh, boy. Talk about procrastination. You'd think that swim season finishing would give me time, but no.

By the way, the seiyuu (voice actress) of Potamos in the anime series of "Wedding Peach" (I don't own that, either) is Mitsuishi Kotono. She also was the voice for Usagi in "Sailor Moon", Kagura Souma in "Fruits Basket", Excel in "Excel Saga"... Anyway, one has to imagine Potamos' voice as very, very cute when one reads about her.

"Quotations"

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 38: Growing Storm

* * *

Natsumi yawned. The pharmacist was tired, after nursing her husband back to health all night. She twisted her hair into a neat bun as she walked the narrow hallway.

The old woman stopped. There was some kind of lump on the floor, blocking her path. To her bafflement, it was Hinata sitting upon the wooden floor.

"Hinata!" Natsumi rushed over, taking Hinata's hand to help pull her up. "What are you doing here? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

At the sound of Natsumi's voice, Hinata snapped out of her nervous guard. "O... Obaa-sama!" She pointed at the door behind her. "There's a BOY there! I couldn't —"

Natsumi sighed. "I had been hoping the meeting would turn out nicer." She slid open the door. "Tetsu."

A dumbfounded Hinata peeked over Natsumi's shoulder. The silver-haired boy sat in the exact same spot as last night, cool as a cucumber while the old pharmacist made giant strides towards him.

"You didn't even set out the futon for yourself?" Natsumi asked. The tired resignation in her voice indicated that she had encountered this problem before. "If you have insomnia, at least keep yourself warm for the night. No wonder you're always ill!"

"Sorry, Kaa-san," Tetsu muttered.

Hinata bit her lip. This boy was Natsumi's _son?_ Now she felt like an idiot for staying out in the hallway all night, as if Tetsu were a ferocious animal ready to shred apart the pharmacy. The blue eyes that Hinata had seen on-and-off the previous day turned out to be his.

"And what about our new apprentice?" Natsumi gestured to Hinata, who only shrank inside herself as Tetsu gave a subtle glare. "You could have come to the dinner table last night; that would have been a perfect time to introduce yourself to her!"

Tetsu looked away. A stubborn frown marred his face, which caused Hinata to take another look. It was a perfect replica of Naruto's own expression of annoyance. She had memorized it perfectly in the days of Ninja Academy, whenever Iruka would scold Naruto for yet another disobedience.

Something of harshness finally crossed Natsumi's face. "Tetsu! Aren't you at least going to say hello to Hinata?"

He did not answer.

Hinata studied Tetsu's unmoving form, from his platinum crown all the way to his bare feet. His face was still partially turned away, as if Hinata's gaze were a contagious disease. As the silent seconds ticked by, the blue-haired girl slowly felt her own body freeze up. Had she made him angry? He was, after all, the only child of the Taketori couple, and thus the inheritor of the pharmacy. Maybe he thought of her as competition for his parents' affections. Or...

'He probably thinks me a bother,' Hinata realized. Blood slowly rushed up her cheeks — and certainly not for a pleasant reason. Even though she barely knew Tetsu, she felt obliged to get along with him. She already felt bad for thinking he was a burglar. Natsumi wanted them to be on good terms, at least have mutual respect with each other.

But what mainly made Hinata feel awful, had to be Tetsu's glare. His angry silence reminded Hinata of the cold, and even at one time brutal, treatment that Neji used to bestow on her for her less-than-adequate abilities as an heiress. Only, all of that burning hatred was translated through the face of Naruto. _Naruto._ Hating her.

"I-I'll go make breakfast!"

Her outburst shattered the awkward silence. Before the tears could fall out and be seen, Hinata fled the hallway like a bat out of hell. Even though logic pounded into her that Tetsu was not Naruto, she could not hold long in the presence of someone with a face like _that._

Natsumi blinked at Hinata's behavior, and then turned her eyes towards her son. Tetsu showed not the least bit of regret. "That is not how you should act toward a guest, Tetsu," Natsumi chided in a low voice. "Especially a young lady like her."

"Young lady?" Tetsu scoffed, pulling his yukata tighter to his skin. "There is no young lady around here. There are not even young _women_ around." He looked through an open window, and onto the street. Several men were pulling a crate, full of wooden logs and clean slabs of stone. Another was setting up his stall for okonomiyaki.

Natsumi's voice took an almost pleading tone. "Try getting along with Hinata."

"I doubt it." Tetsu finally pulled his eyes away from the morning street business, and turned to his mother. "Can I eat my food here again, Kaa-san?"

* * *

A black hammer gleamed as it was swung down onto a red, glowing strip of metal. The quick, high-pitched sounds of forging echoed off the ominous cave walls. The only lighting was the heath, and the torches decorating the walls. The flames wavered and danced, as if trying to syncopate with the sounds of the hammer.

An even layer of sweat covered the forger's skin, glistening in the room's heat. The thick strikes mellowed down as time passed. Gradually, they turned to monotonous taps.

The blacksmith raised the glowing blade, giving it a final balance by his eyes. He smiled in satisfaction. He stabbed it into a large bucket of water. A hiss of steam escaped. He raised the cooled sword out, and examined it. To his pleasure, the metal had turned a beautiful sky-blue as it came dripping out of the water.

"For whom is that?" a voice from the entrance asked. "The Lady of the Lake?"

The blacksmith looked up, and saw a man with long, silver hair standing at the door. "Master, those jokes you get abroad won't faze me. I'm a _local_ sort of guy." His thumb slightly lifted the collar of his drenched kimono shirt.

"Were you as 'local' as you claim, you would not so quickly label it 'from abroad'," the other pointed out. "You would have assumed it was yet another female demon changing her name in hope of inciting awe."

The blacksmith laughed. "You got me there."

The silver-haired man walked over, and leaned his back against the rocky wall. He watched his blacksmith-slash-carpenter ogle over his latest creation. "I presume you are up to date with what is happening with the heavens."

"...Heavens?" Catching the frown from his master, the dark-haired man quickly got his brain away from the sword. "Oh, yes! Division 34 recently discovered that the Hidden Leaf Village has turned clean."

There was now a deep wrinkle beside the frown. "Clean?"

"As in, completely sterile of freed souls and demons. Well, there're probably one or two demons still around — tight and protected into seals, of course — and probably a few dead people who're new to being hungry ghosts." The blacksmith said all this casually, not noticing the cold irritation of his master. "But yes! It is confirm that the Hidden Leaf Village is definitely where the Priestess resides." The blacksmith focused part of his concentration back onto the sword again. He rolled the dull handle in his palm. "The only problem we have is getting a demon troop to willingly go against a village that sealed away the Kyuubi."

The silver-haired man paused. "But the Priestess of Souls does not reside in that village," his low voice intoned. "At least, not anymore."

The blacksmith put down the sword. He looked at his master. "Not anymore?"

"The ancient spiriting away spell... Kamikakushi."

Absentmindedly, the silver-haired man fingered a loose piece of his hair that had stuck onto his black coat. He held it up to the dim light of the fire. Even though hair was technically dead material, like nails, he still could sense a faint glow of his own chakra pulsing through.

"It is a long-lost tradition, for a shaman to leave her own village, in order that she seek the otherworldly." He dropped the hair into the fire. The flames burst blue for a split-second, before crackling down to an orange again. "But I recognized it. I felt it. It came from the middle of the Fire Country."

"Where the Hidden Leaf Village exists," the blacksmith murmured. There was a pause. "...But, where did it go? The spiriting-away spell, I mean?"

The silver-haired man stared at the fire. "The Stone Country."

The blacksmith stared at his master. "You're... not joking." Stillness. "You're not joking."

Something of glee then flashed through his dark eyes.

"Yoh-kay!" he exclaimed. "Great timing that you promoted me only a few weeks ago, huh?" He began to rummage through an iron basket near the heath, which was jammed with various smith-tools. "Rock and metal are my elements! And there are LOTS of rocks in that country! Hence, Stone Country!"

The silver-haired master rolled his eyes. He was somewhat bemused by the fact that his own blacksmith and carpenter was acting like a carefree, prancing child. High on sugar. The guy was almost bipolar, juggling his attention between kissing up to power and his devoted craftsmanship. "Now remember what I told you: observe the Priestess first. Then see what you can do."

"Yes, sir!" the blacksmith almost barked out.

Leaving the man happily to his own plans, the silver-haired being swept out of the room. 'He did not even realize that he missed two weekly meetings.' A small smile tugged at his mouth as he watched the blacksmith work away. 'Then again, he is a spirit of the forge.'

* * *

A petite, beautiful girl twisted and moved in the light of the bonfires, in rhythm with the drums and flutes. The water-demon named Potamos wore nothing but a metallic golden top to cover her upper body, and a red sarong curtaining her hips.

Her curly purple hair was down, moving around the skin of her neck like ocean waves crashing on a bluff. She danced barefoot on the petal-flecked grass. The motion of her arms and hips mimicked the increasing turbulence of a river. Her almost-closed eyes maintained a seductive control within her performance.

The group of Sakura, Minoru, and Potamos had stopped by at a small village, in order to earn some money at the annual viewing of the cherry blossoms. Technically, it went on for the two weeks in which the trees were in bloom. The people came on in clusters to picnic under the trees, contemplate the whitish-pink flowers, and chat while feasting upon sauce-soaked dango and cups of sake.

During this night, however, special lights were brought into the cherry blossom grove grove, along with dancers and entertainers. The more 'sophisticated' people turned their nose in distaste to the perverting of their natural, contemplative holiday. (The disapproving parties usually were housewives, whose husbands attended the night festivity regardless.)

But Potamos was determined to show that something as exotic as belly dancing was more than the sex appeal. Although luring men to her bed would be a nice bonus, the scant dressing the water-demon had on was to exposed the detailed muscles of her body, to reveal that dancing required dedicated training and athleticism. It was an art.

During the long winter, the group had lived off the money that Sakura and Minoru earned as healers on the road. Even this was difficult for Sakura; she had to take care that her true hair color was rarely seen. It had not made much difference during snowstorms, when most of the cases were hypothermia. Any vision a freezing man had of a young woman with pastel hair and emerald eyes, could be dismissed by Minoru next morning as a dream. Which partially was true, because Minoru tweaked their dreams just enough while they were asleep.

Not all of their patients had been willing to pay. In fact, some had no ability to pay at all. The number of homeless people, and people who had homes but could not afford medical treatment, was astounding to Sakura. She often expressed anger towards the villages that treated regular doctors like crap — but what could they do? Only heal.

While Potamos was dedicating her soul to dancing, Sakura was piqued. Unlike the water-demon, Sakura could not slip into the public, close to people as was necessary for healing. Healing was not necessary here.

Instead, she was part of Detox.

Yes. In order for Sakura to earn money in this celebrating village, she had to take care of drunks.

Sakura sat in her tent, wishing to scream. The worst kinds of idiots were coming to HER. She had to heal not a sick impoverished child, not a battered wife who could not find herself to leave her husband, not even a soldier near death on the battlefield. She had to take care of morons who voluntarily got themselves so drunk, they couldn't tell whether she was one person or a set of twins.

"Sir... Wake UP!" Sakura shook the shoulder of a man barely sitting in his chair. His blood-alcohol content was high enough that were he allowed to sleep, he could fall into a coma. He did not respond to Sakura's shaking. The medic-nin gave a huff. "This is for your own good." She gave his cheek a series of light slaps. "Hey. C'mon!"

That woke him up. His voice was slurred, and his blood-shot eyes showed confusion as he looked up. "W-What the hell—"

"Yeah, what the hell," Sakura muttered. Her green eyes showed annoyance as she glared at her patient. "You are going to stay awake, all right?"

"Nice outfit," the man murmured, his eyelids drooping. His upper body began to fall forward. Sakura, panicking, instinctively caught him by the shoulders. The brief flicker of sympathy in her dissipated when she felt his hands trail up her torso. His fingers reached the boundary of her under-bust. "Nurse uniform? Kinky."

Sakura bestowed him a chakra-infused punch. He flew, and finally rolled weakly across the tarp floor.

The kunoichi stared at the man. She then cried out in frustration. He was unconscious again! As much as Sakura had detested that perverted and unwelcome move, the medic-nin was not keen to have one of her patients die because of her negligence. What was the point of saving an intoxicated man from a coma, only to smack him out and start the whole death cycle all over again?

Besides, it was her own fault for choosing to disguise herself as a nurse. 'Most of the drunks that come into the detoxification tent are male,' Sakura remembered too late. 'DUH.'

"Sacchan!"

Sakura looked up. A purple-haired head poked through the tent's opening, checking out what was going on. "Already done with your dancing, Potamos?" Sakura asked.

The water-demon nodded, and slipped the rest of her body the tent. She studied Sakura's getup. "Woaw, nurse uniform?" Potamos wetted her lips. "Kinky."

Sakura groaned. "Not you, too." She indicated the man next to her. "Help me wake him up, would you please?"

"Sure!"

The humidity plummeted. A ball of water collected between Potamos' hands. The purple-haired girl kept her mental control over the sphere, floating it over the unconscious drunk — and dropped it.

The man gasped awake, soaked in cold water. Blurred before him was the frowning, pink-haired nurse. But this time she had company: a dancer in a glitzy bra top and red skirt. The lavender-haired newcomer embraced the nurse in an almost suggestive manner.

"Was that okay?" Potamos cooed to Sakura, nuzzling against her. She glanced a little at the confused drunkard. "He's getting turned on," the demon whispered in the ear of the medic-nin. A golden, lustful gleam flashed in Potamos' eyes. "Wanna share him?"

"No thanks." Sakura's voice was quick and even. "Take him to an inn, the middle of the forest, I don't care. Just make sure he stays awake until the alcohol is out of his system." To Sakura, it was just one less idiot she had to tolerate until morning.

A squealing Potamos pulled up the human, who was so baffled at his luck that he just did whatever she asked. The two slipped out of the tent, leaving Sakura with several other patients.

Sakura sat down on her folding chair. She only sighed as one patient threw up the contents of his stomach into a ready bucket. 'That was his second round,' Sakura remembered. After he was done and looking better, she handed him a pill and a cup of water. "Take this. You can go home now."

Several hours passed. The loud music from the outside turned soft, slowly... and then disappeared. The yelling and laughing died out as people left, replaced by the calm mumblings of long conversationalists.

By some miracle, all of the men plus several women who had come to the detox tent, were all out by three o'clock in the morning. Apparently, the village was close-knit enough that everyone at the night festival, even those under alcohol's influence, felt obliged to go back home by morning so as to not worry their relations. If they did not care, their family made sure to fetch for them. Sakura saw off the last person, a grown man in his thirties, as he was pulled out by his own mother.

When all was done, Sakura loosened the neck of the nurse uniform. She eyed the envelope on the table, full of the pay that the village elder gave for her medical services. She opened it, and raised an eyebrow. It was enough money to treat her group to a week at an inn. Not bad at all. Although Sakura never received the chuunin vest (she still did not know whether she had earned one), it was a good thing that she got a civilian's certificate of medicine while still under Tsunade's care, making her eligible to almost any village as a qualified nurse.

While staring at the cash inside the envelope, Sakura's aura senses tingled. She rested the thin package on the table under her palm, and slowly turned around. A black, threatening shadow appeared on the canvas walls. It thinned down as the figure walked closer at the tent.

"Minoru-san," Sakura identified, before he even came through the door.

The elf walked in. "Your intuition is swift as the wind." His robes were clean as the time they had entered the village, showing that he had successfully evaded drunken brawls and spews alike. "Perhaps my aura was a bit too dazzling?"

"No, it was your height," Sakura said. "The shadow gave it away."

"Of course." From the sleeves of his Shinto robes, Minoru pulled out several purses, and set them on the table. "Behold: the first harvest of the year."

Sakura leaned back in her chair, frowning at the stolen money. "You make more money by picking pockets than what I get for healing."

"Thus is the way of the world." Minoru began opening the purses, proceeding to count and organize the various bills and coins.

Sakura watched Minoru. "You know, seeing an elf steal and count money is so wrong."

"Maybe if I were a normal elf," Minoru admitted. "But it's the fault of humans to depend on abstract concepts like money. We are forced to adapt..." When he was interrupted by sounds of rummaging, he looked up briefly from his counting. Sakura cleaned out a portable medicinal cabinet of its leftover supplies, and stuffed them into her travel bag. "Above all, you do the same thing."

Sakura gave a sheepish smile. She sealed her medical pouch, which now had a bulge. "It's things like gauze and antibiotic I take, not money. Money is so dirty; it's been touched so many times..." She made a face at the thought of how many germs were on bills and coins through manhandling. No wonder it was custom for employers to hand out salaries within envelopes. "Oh, yeah, before I forget!"

Sakura pushed the envelope of money towards Minoru.

Minoru raised an eyebrow. He observed at her smiling face: she was obviously proud of her hard work, and trusted him to use the earnings wisely. After a heavy sigh, the blond elf put a finger on his temple. "Sakura-san, you ought keep that. You earned it on your own."

"But I don't need it!" Sakura said. "You buy all my stuff anyway."

Minoru pushed the envelope back to her. "Then considered it an _allowance,_" the blond said. "You may spend it how you want, as long as what you purchase does not hinder our travels." He smirked a little at Sakura's annoyed face: she was like a little sister who tried to get praise from an older brother for her selflessness, only to be shot down. "You should learn how to manage your own finances, Sakura-san."

Sakura picked up the envelope. "Whatever. I decided yesterday that I don't want anymore stuff to carry."

Minoru looked at her. "But you just raided the medicine cabinet."

"It's good to be in stock!" Sakura retorted.

The two paused in their verbal exchange. At first, Sakura glared back at Minoru because she thought he was challenging her to a staring contest. But then she felt an unfamiliar chill seep into the tent, from the west.

The elf turned around, readying his bow. "Prepare yourself, Sakura-san."

Sakura knew what was coming. Demons. "NOW?" As if asking so would change anything.

Minoru swept out of the tent. "You have thirty seconds."

Sakura looked down at her nurse uniform. Well, she certainly could not fight in such an outfit. She zipped it off, and threw on her black kendô robes, which were lengthier but allowed more freedom of movement.

Just as she picked up her sheathed sword, Tennyo, Sakura felt a terrible pulse of dark aura from above. Not even bothering to look up at the tarp ceiling, she put chakra in her legs and jumped through the flaps of the entrance.

Sakura sprinted towards the village, going as fast as she could away from the tent. She felt the push of air on her back: the tent exploded, leaving nothing but cinders.

"There goes my paycheck." Sakura removed her hands from her ears, the minimal protection she had against explosion-induced deafness. She readied her sword, knowing that her current cranky mood could help her battle spirit.

Minoru drew an arrow, and whispered a strange chant. It awakened the deepest elfin magic in him; it made no difference that he was dressed in foreign robes. A mellow, golden aura transferred from his fingers into the feathers of the drawn arrow. As he powered the weapon, a circle of dust began to levitate around his feet.

Sakura noticed that three black shadows flew towards the most holy thing they could identify. Minoru.

The kunoichi was already twisting out the hand-seals. 'Why the hell is he standing like that? He'll be torn apart!'

Finally, Minoru released the string. The chakra-powered arrow shot through all three shadows. He had been waiting for the split-second they were aligned. Minoru watched in satisfaction as the resulting beam of yellow light dissolved the screaming pieces.

"Why do you always SCARE me like that?" Sakura yelled behind Minoru, her fingers throbbing with built-up chakra.

"Perfect aim requires patience," Minoru said. "I need not your protection, nor do you need mine. Go. Fight."

Another pulse of threatening chakra came from the right of Sakura. She turned around, and slid out Tennyo.

The line of steel made a green glint in the face of incoming wraiths. The shadows were violently pushed back by the unseen force. Their wispy forms tumbled into the thicker area of the grove. They were shook up, but unhurt.

Sakura's eyebrows furrowed. 'It didn't split them? But last time, with the tree-youkai...'

She felt a sharp, burning sensation run through her veins. Her eyes saw flashes of dark-green.

Minoru let loose another arrow, taking care of another cluster of wraiths. In the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura collapse to the ground.

Sakura lay, slightly shaking. Her green eyes were wide open as she saw wraiths descend upon the center of the village. Try as she might, she could not find the strength to lift her limbs. 'Move!' she ordered. 'Move! Damn it, Sakura, MOVE!'

She looked at Tennyo next to her. She tried to reach the weapon. Her arm finally somehow moved, but Sakura saw that her fingers were barely twitching.

Minoru ignored the screams of humans in the village. He appeared before Sakura in a flash, and immediately saw what was wrong. He put holy, yellow chakra into his right hand, and placed it on Sakura's temple.

As the elf did this, Sakura felt the tight net of pain slide off her head. The kunoichi immediately sat up, relieved, but also angry at herself for collapsing at this time of crisis. "Shit! Now those things are—"

"You are not to use any wind-techniques until I deem you fit to do so, Sakura-san." It was an order from Minoru, not a statement.

The kunoichi was taken aback. "What!" Sakura's voice was tinged with disbelief as she turned to Minoru. "But those are my most destructive—"

"Sorry, not anymore." The elf only drew another arrow across his bow. "The most destructive technique in your repertoire now is actually your simplest."

Sakura paused for thought. "My taijutsu?"

Minoru let loose another arrow. "Yes, yes, the strength that the human unicorn taught you."

"My shishou has a _name_," Sakura hissed, before running towards the center of the village. She was suddenly turned off by Minoru's attitude again. Not only was the elf bossing her around, as if he knew everything about her strengths and weaknesses, but he was also cleaning the surrounding forest of wraiths _before_ aiming towards the wraiths storming the village. As if he did not particularly care for human life.

'Well, Minoru-san just trusts me enough to handle the job on my own,' some part of her reasoned. She pulled the black gloves over her hands.

Sakura looked ahead as she sped through the streets. A wraith flew snarling towards her face.

"To quote Naruto," Sakura muttered, the chakra filling her arms and fists, "EAT SHIT!"

The shadow-demon crashed against a wall. It twisted on the ground, ignorant how to deal with the pain: the punch from Sakura had cracked several bones. Its faint skeleton began to heal, but that process stopped when the girl's heel mercilessly nailed it into ground. While the shrunken wraith barely twitched, Sakura folded her hands through a sequence of In. Her gloves began to leak a glow of pink light. She slammed her palm down.

The wraith's remains began to shrink. When Sakura lifted her fist slowly, the youkai was already gone.

Sakura mentally digested the nothingness she saw in the crater. These wraiths looked big, due to the clouds they produced around themselves. But once it got through their minds that _they_ were the ones getting hurt, they were already shrinking like worms stranded on dry concrete.

The only problem was, a number of wraiths still afloat in the air. Almost like a swarm of bats. Except bats were nicer. At least bats ate mosquitoes.

Sakura saw several thin objects fly upwards from the central district. They sparkled as they dispersed the army of shadows. A tiny figure jumped up from a hotel window, and ran vertically up the building towards the demons.

Potamos leapt head-on into the swarm of wraiths. Her hand snatched one wraith, and willed coldness into it. Within two seconds, it looked like it had been dipped in liquid nitrogen. She swung the corpse around like a club, while jumping on the heads of other wraiths.

Sakura made several In as she watched. As good as Potamos was, some of the wraiths were bypassing the cute water-demon to get towards the village. And a few villagers were coming out of their houses to see the source of all the noise.

"Look out!" Sakura slammed her body against a door, which had been creaked open by a confused housewife. The kunoichi heard a scream of surprise from inside, which followed with a doubly loud scream when a wraith flew flat into a window — it could not go through glass, but it was still visible. 'These creatures aren't very intelligent, are they?' Sakura thought, before slugging the youkai half the street's length with a leather-gloved fist.

Sakura made the effort to carefully pull off wraiths that were collecting at people's doors. She found one demon whose spine was flexible and thin enough, that it was trying to squirm through the lower gap of a closed door. It had nearly succeeded, before Sakura pulled out her katana and stabbed it through the stomach. A pool of gray blood resulted, only to evaporate five seconds later.

After ten minutes, Sakura threw her last necessary punch for the night. The swarm had been obliterated, thanks to the archery skills of the elf, and Potamos' charging-in attacks.

Sakura was frustrated. Even though Minoru and Potamos were helping her, this incident was one of a new wave of demon attacks. Sure, she had seen stronger, bigger youkai before. But they had only appeared one at a time. That was manageable for Sakura, once she read the reports in Tsunade's office of mysterious attacks and tracked the monsters down. But how could such a large number of small, rather weak wraiths have managed to enter the human realm?

While these questions spun in her brain, Sakura pulled her body out the village. She hid herself in the buildings' shadows at specific points, skirting around lamps while still using them as guides. The authorities of village security obviously wished the find suspects for the damage.

She made it to the cherry blossom grove. A few lanterns from the party remained. The kunoichi sensed a few villagers possibly following her from behind, so she cloaked herself with a simple genjutsu of petals. The grove was a shortcut to the main traveling road.

Minoru and Potamos were already waiting for her there.

"Hiya," Sakura greeted. Weariness laced her voice. She had been bright awake during the battle, but now it was over. It was four in the morning and still pitch-black outside; her body cried for sleep. She wanted desperately to get a room at the inn of the village, and sleep the battle off.

But the detox tent had been burned to a crisp. Questions might be raised of why the foreign nurse escaped the attack completely unharmed. No, it was better to leave now.

Potamos lightly stretched. After that workout of a battle, her face seemed to shimmer in refreshed glee. "That was so fun!" she quietly commented as they walked. "Although they were still babies, their agility wasn't bad!" The water-demon played with the bra straps of her dancer outfit, which she had not changed out of after her escapade with the drunken human. "Shooting ice again felt _kewl_, especially after a good —"

"No more, Devil-child," Minoru said.

"That was the biggest horde of youkai-demons," Sakura muttered, "that I've seen so far."

Minoru studied the exhausted, but also concerned expression of the pink-haired kunoichi. "It means the barriers in this world, between the youkai realm and the human realm, are cracking. Some sort of intense... charm must have triggered it."

He bit his lip. The blond elf had known the possibility of this happening. What upset him was that it occurred too soon. The image of dark-blue hair and opaque eyes flashed in his mind. 'That poor child.' Minoru was aggravated with the forces aimed at the Priestess. 'These events are occurring too fast, even for a human of her caliber.'

His concerned face melted away. "Sakura-san. What would you say, about looking for the Three Sacred Treasures?"

One of her eyebrows lifted in skepticism. "A quest for an artifact," Sakura stated. "Okay... Except, instead of one holy cup, like in your world — we'd have to find _three_ total objects." With a snort, she turned her head back on the road. "I believe in magic and jutsu, Minoru-san, but there is a limit."

"I know the keeper of one." Minoru smiled. "The Priestess of Souls."

"Ooh, ooh!" Potamos bounced up and down on her heels, lifting the ends of her sarong by her fingers. "I heard from a few other spirits in this world that she's super sweet and nice! It'll be cool to develop relations with her!"

"You are _forbidden_ to rape the Priestess, Devil-child," Minoru said in sternness.

"I had no idea that it was an _option_, Mino-chan," Potamos answered in a put-out tone, while Sakura reacted to the elf's comment with a surprised hack. The water-demon walked far ahead of Minoru, her sarong-wrapped hips swishing in an overdone staccato.

* * *

Five days had passed since Hinata found herself lying in a grove in the Stone Country.

Hinata covered her sneeze with a lightly curled fist. It was very quiet and breathy, but it caught Natsumi's attention. It was almost like a kitten sneezing.

"Are you catching a cold, Hinata?" Natsumi asked.

The blue-haired girl sniffed up clean air, held it, and breathed calmly out. "No, just a sniffle." For the sake of cleanliness and courtesy, however, Hinata took out a clean facemask from her apron, and fastened it over her mouth and nose. After washing her hands, Hinata quickly resumed her work of grinding herbs for medicine.

Hinata closed her eyes for a brief moment. One reason was for resting her arms. But another was using her Byakugan to check her surroundings. Using the bloodline limit at regular intervals, Hinata kept track of customers entering the store, the traffic and business in the village streets, and also the inner workings of the pharmacy.

Murashi and Natsumi, although very old when first seen, worked with the vitality of twenty-year-olds in their pharmacy. The Taketori Apothecary was the only pharmacy in the small village: thus, both the pride and the responsibility of preparing medicine were laid heavily upon the couple's shoulders.

Natsumi currently sat in the chemistry room with Hinata, judging the girl's handling of botanicals. Some herbs, one could simply dry and grind — but there were many plants that had to be fresh, or at a modified state, before getting mixed with others substances to make an effective medicine.

"Stop, stop." Natsumi pulled her shawl closer as her head neared the mortar. Hinata stopped, and tentatively held up the pestle with her fingers. The old woman critically eyed the ground-up material. "You've got the elbow-grease; good for you. But see the smudges that are happening to the sides of the mortar?" Her aged hand pointed to the areas of darkening mush. "Grinding it for too long of a time, can allow the enzymes to start working, and break down the base. We want that to happen later, but not now..."

Natsumi put a heavy emphasis on biochemistry in her explanations. Because it was something that Hinata was new to, the lessons went on a bit longer than Natsumi had originally planned. But Natsumi was a patient woman.

For that, Hinata was personally grateful. The kunoichi had learned the basic, practical techniques of making medicine in record speed under Tsunade, but at the cost of not actually understanding the reasons behind such techniques. Some part of the new curriculum terrified Hinata. Amino acids, proteins, enzymes, lipids... all new words to her. But she had all the time in the world to figure them out.

They would be easier to figure out than a certain someone in the house, anyway.

With her Byakugan, Hinata spotted Tetsu reading in his room. Again.

The relationship between her and Tetsu, mildly put, had not changed one bit. He ate meals in his room, separate from his parents and Hinata. The platinum-haired teenager left his room for two reasons only, and those were to use the toilet, and to take a bath. If in the brief incidents he met Hinata in the hallway, he'd step around her with careful haste, as if the slightest touch would soil his sleeves.

Hinata deactivated her Byakugan, before turning to see the back of Natsumi. "Obaa-sama."

"Yes, Hinata-chan?"

"Did I seriously offend Tetsu-san?" Hinata asked. "In any way?"

Natsumi stopped stroking the coals in the fire. After a pause, she resumed working at them. "Tetsu is a strange child, even in this village," Natsumi answered quietly. "He had always been shy, and bright, observing everything... Tetsu insisted that he learn at home. But later we found out that..." She fumbled with her words, as she tried to formulate the sentences without offending Hinata. "You see... Tetsu is not very fond of people. It's not you, Hinata."

The old woman picked up the heated mortar with tongs, and poured the mixture into a small, hand-sized container. She then took a metal cap from a pool of hot water. "This is just like making fruit preserves. You have to have both container and cap sterilized with boiling water early on. Then you make a vacuum." She twisted the warm cap on tight. She waited about ten seconds, before pushing down on the cap. "See, no springing up! No air going through this puppy." Natsumi handed over the warm medicine to Hinata. "I think it's about time you toured the village. Can you take this to Mikagami-san? She lives two blocks to the south. Her stock is just about to run out."

Hinata blinked. "Huh? Oh, yes, Obaa-sama!" She took the jar, and stepped out of the room.

A pair of blue eyes, veiled with silver hair, barely flashed after Hinata as she walked the hallways.

"Don't get fucked," Tetsu's voice mumbled.

Hinata tightened her lips. She strode away, her back upright like how her father had taught her. 'This is just the stress of dealing with a new environment,' her serene side chanted forcefully. 'Don't take his... words to heart.' This with renewed calmness, Hinata stepped out in the streets to deliver the medicine.

As she trod the streets, Hinata felt the stares come at her from every direction. Being a foreigner to a small, isolated town, Hinata had been instructed by her hosts to stay in the house. Until now, that is. Her first few days of stay had been wracked with villagers coming into the pharmacy, not to buy medicine, but to check out the girl who came to this back-of-the-woods area on her own. Hinata had shown her face two days ago from now, but that had been while she was still inside the pharmacy.

The streets now were quite safe, though. It was bright daylight, with the noon sun gleaming down warmth. People walked the streets quite normally, save their brief glances. Hinata still had her Jyuuken for times of crisis.

Around the second corner, she read the front stone of the nearest house: -Mikagami- Hinata walked to the door, and knocked.

A tired-looking woman slid open the door. Her eyes bugged out at the sight of the young girl.

"From the Taketori Pharmacy," Hinata said, holding the jar out to her. "Your pre-ordered medicine. I hope it will ease your ailment." When the medicine was received, she gave a low bow. "Thank you for your patronage!"

"You are their new assistant?" The woman's voice was croaky.

Hinata lifted up her head. "Why, yes—"

The kunoichi blinked. Behind the woman, within the hallways of the Mikagami house, stood four boys. There were all staring at her, peeking from behind other doors. Their ages varied, but the youngest looked no older than fourteen. In all eyes glowed a hint of a fearful, but almost feral, curiosity.

'Xenophobia.' Lips tightened, Hinata bowed once again to the mistress of the house, and turned to go back home. She lifted her toes a bit higher than usual in her gait, slightly increasing the pace of her walk.

"H-Hinata-san!" Mikagami's voice called out. "Send Natsumi-san my regards!"

Hinata nodded back with a smile. She was a bit relieved. 'That went well for my first delivery...' She made her way through the few streets, towards the fence caging in the pharmacy. Just behind it would be the rock garden.

The blue-haired girl then realized something. All of the people staring at her — correction, _everybody_ walking in the streets — were male. Which was very unusual, even for the most traditional societies. Would not more women be around collecting foodstuffs from market, rather then men who were obliged to go out and do physical labor such as crops or hunting?

Hinata had no problem with a different culture that perhaps made men more... domestic than the average village. But from the repeated observations from her Byakugan, Hinata realized that this village was an entirely different case. There were not that many women in the village at all, not even in the houses. The only ones she had identified of the female sex so far of this village were her hostess Natsumi, and her first customer Mikagami.

Hinata walked towards the pharmacy, her head down. This allowed her indigo hair to cover the veins protruding from her Byakugan. The villagers seemed unaware of her observations, but her bloodline limit showed a great deal. Their stares were haggard, almost disdainful — but also a hungry, painful sort of curiosity lurked in them.

As Hinata felt the stares chisel into her, an unknown dread crept in her soul. 'What's wrong with this place?'

A pair was walking towards her from behind. Hinata did not change her pace, hoping that they were just equally using the same road for travel as she did.

Her hopes went down the drain when one man reached towards her shoulder.

Instinctively, Hinata turned around, her fingers straightening like a dagger. She stabbed a pressure point. She did not know which one it was, but it was the first one that her eyes caught.

One of the men collapsed to the ground, howling in pain as he clutched his arm. Hinata's bloodline limit vanished as soon as she looked up. Her lavender eyes widened in horror at the realization of what she just did: she attacked a civilian of her host village with a Jyuuken technique!

"What did you do, you freak?" his partner demanded the foreign girl.

To Hinata's dismay, there was a third man in the group: he had been walking in her Byakugan's blind angle. She paled at the sight of the group glaring at her. Her old stutter began to pour back into her tongue. "I— uh... I mean... That is... I'M SORRY!" The last two words ended in a shriek.

The three villagers stared, this time in bewilderment at Hinata's upset state.

The blue-haired kunoichi then performed one of the most commonsense techniques that a ninja possessed. It required the utmost stealth, speed, and strength, and furthermore incorporated one of the most basic human instincts in the face of imminent danger.

Hinata ran away.

From the second-floor window of the Taketori house, Tetsu laughed.

* * *

Notes:

"tetsu" - means 'steel'.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	39. Two Pieces of Evidence

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

"Quotations"

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 39: Two Pieces of Evidence

* * *

Hinata dashed into the pharmacy. After kicking off her shoes gracelessly in the genkan-area, she ran into the hallway. She held a palm against her beating heart.

Quick pants escaped Hinata as she recalled what happened in the streets. Three men had silently walked up on her from behind, and one attempted to touch her shoulder. They had not even tried to get her attention with a simple "Miss" or "Excuse me". What kind of village was this place?

Hinata was not afraid of strangers per se. Nor was she afraid of 'commoners'; the only time she was class-conscious was when her family ordered her to do so for a special occasion. But even for a kunoichi who had observed and analyzed many societies outside Konohagakure, this village in the Stone was _weird._ Not only were the men odd, the women were practically nonexistent.

Her Byakugan revealed that the three men who had approached her in the streets, were now slouching together in an alleyway. She sighed while walking the hallway of the Taketori house. She felt a bit safer between these walls.

"Well, what do you think?" Tetsu stuck his grinning face in front of Hinata.

His unexpected appearance made her squeak, and fault back on a heel. "W-What do you mean?"

"What do you think... of this village?" Tetsu's amusement with Hinata was that of a cat discovering a broken-legged mouse. "I bet the men all think you a _treasure_."

The Priestess swallowed her fear for just a moment. Hinata looked at him in the eye. "Did you... set that up?"

Tetsu stared at her. A moment of confusion, but it was fleeting. He then gave a look that seemed to question her sanity. "Me? Get together with those low-lives? No way in hell." Tetsu lifted his shoulders in a shrug, and turned to walk away. "Hilarious, though." He snickered at Hinata. "You're a freakin' paranoid."

Hinata could feel her lips turning into thin bands. 'To define paranoid among ninja is pointless, more so if one sees spirits and monsters!'

She did not say it out loud, however. Her mouth and cheeks relaxed.

Hinata managed to give an ironic smile to Tetsu. "Perhaps I am a bit overly suspicious," she admitted in a cool voice. She gave a slight bow to the platinum blond. "Thank you for watching over me from the second floor."

Tetsu's brow furrowed. "Huh?" By now, Hinata had already turned around, and was now retreated towards the chemistry room, where Natsumi was boiling leaves for a special tea. The blue-haired girl opened the fusuma-door. "Wait," Tetsu said, "how did you —"

_Tap._

Thus did Hinata politely shut the door in the Naruto-look-alike's face. Using the Byakugan for a moment, she had closed off the room before Tetsu could even touch her wrist to stop her. He would have to wait later in the evening for questioning. And later, she would be more at ease.

With a sigh, she allowed the veins around her cheekbones to recede. She went to meet Natsumi in the next room.

She foresaw a long battle of wits with Tetsu. A very long one.

* * *

Tsunade rested her elbows on the surface of her desk. She critically eyed the subject before her: Hyuuga Hiashi.

"Hiashi, this is getting serious. It's been a week since your daughter disappeared. And yet you insist that only Hyuuga are allowed to know that she is absent." Tsunade sighed. "Not even the ANBU, you say?"

"It is to protect the image of the village," insisted Hiashi. "Please, let our clan find her by ourselves."

"I have no intention of hunting Hinata down as a missing-nin," Tsunade said. "For her safety, however, I will put her name as a missing civilian."

Hiashi's face was hard. "Whether my daughter is listed as a shinobi or citizen, it makes no difference. The name of Hyuuga is too famous." He closed his eyes in cool calculation, as if preparing to stand his ground against a dragon. A she-dragon named Tsunade. "If Hinata's name were put on the list of the missing, and there existed _one_ sole traitor in Konoha — any number of foreign shinobi would be on her heels."

Tsunade looked carefully at the patriarch. It was hidden at the back of his cold eyes, but there was a sharp worry there. He was head of a ninja clan, and at the same time the single parent of two excellent yet trouble-attracting daughters. Which job was harder, even the Godaime could not tell.

Tsunade had not expected the next sentence to come from Hyuuga Hiashi, however.

"I _beg_ you." Hiashi's head was completely tilted downward in humility, as if he were afraid that his eyes would reveal some weakness. His hands clutched his knees, bunching up the cloth of his kimono. "If you released a list to a secretive division, even if it were just to one ANBU section, someone else will find out. I cannot allow the knowledge of Hinata's disappearance to leak out so easily."

Despite some pity, anger began to rush into Tsunade. "Haruno Sakura was just as strong and important a shinobi as Hinata was. And I _knew_ what I was doing when I put Sakura on the list of missing civilians." When no response came, she slammed her fist on the desk. "Why shouldn't Hinata be treated with the same care? HUH?"

"Because, _Godaime-sama_," the clan leader rasped out, "Hinata has enough trouble coming towards her already! If the information is accidentally passed to other villages, either through carelessness or deception within our walls, then Hinata has absolutely _no chance_ to make it back home. Consider it!"

Hiashi's face was now uplifted, fully visible. Cold sweat covered his forehead. Hiashi was panting after his angry speech. It had drained much of his pride as a patriarch, and forced to the surface an unfamiliar and discomforting protectiveness over his eldest child. It was also painful, to vocally admit that Hinata was in very grave danger. This was the clan, and more than the clan.

Tsunade's brow wrinkled. After a long silence, she sighed. "Hiashi... The rumors are already spreading within the Leaf of Hinata's disappearance."

Hiashi froze. "Already," he echoed. Something of an ironic smile twisted upon his face, coupling with the sad crease in his pale eyes. "So possessing the name of Hyuuga is already a curse."

Tsunade sighed. "No, possessing the name Hinata is," she corrected. "Some Konoha-nin may not have noticed. But the villagers have."

The patriarch's mouth took a downward turn. "I thought that... Hinata preferred to avoid the public eye."

"Yes, she often acted the wallflower," Tsunade said brusquely. "She followed your six o'clock curfew until she was fourteen. Many of her missions were outside the village because of her Byakugan skills." The blond medic-nin paused, when she realized Hiashi giving her a pointed look. "And recently I've been borrowing her for hospital shifts."

'At least one overnight stay every week,' Hiashi remembered in annoyance.

"Hospital security, nursing, picking up medicinal ingredients... One might think it goes unnoticed." A laugh escaped Tsunade, as she remembered that Hinata specifically chose those one-man missions, precisely because they required fewer social skills. Oh, the irony. "Once the villagers see another face doing the errands, however, they wonder what had happened to the wallflower. Then they talk about how polite and cute the wallflower was."

"Commoners," Hiashi rumbled.

Tsunade was too tired to accuse him of being an elitist. She herself was one, just by being born the granddaughter of the First Hokage. Denouncing Hiashi of looking down on the very people he protected would be hypocritical of her.

Another reason why 'commoners', as Hiashi called them, noticed Hinata's absence was because Tsunade had brought in older, ugly men as substitutes for those jobs. She had sort of appointed them without thinking, thus producing shocks among hospital personnel and pharmacists in Konoha. Even a few young men were traumatized after seeing their white-eyed, blue-haired nurse replaced with a buff man in green. (Gai had always been enthusiastic to volunteer for just about anything.)

If Tsunade told Hiashi that it was her fault for making Hinata's disappearance all the more obvious to the public, however indirectly, he would be pissed. And then he would tell her that since she helped perpetuate the problem, she ought to keep her nose out of Hyuuga business.

'Really, why couldn't I just have imported a few hot nurses from out of town?' Tsunade thought. 'Or made myself to look like I was a teenager?'

Both Tsunade and Hiashi just wanted a bit of silence.

_Creak._

The two adults held still.

Tsunade slowly looked up. "Would you please get that?"

Hiashi was already onto it. His white eyes scanned the walls as swift as moving flashlights. He stood up, walked over, and struck a wall.

A hidden ninja spinning-door banged open.

In the opening, Sai held up a hand of greeting to the glaring Hyuuga patriarch. "Hey."

"Wipe that smarmy grin off your face," Tsunade ordered. She peered at what was behind him. "Sai... Why did you show Naruto and Sasuke the secret ANBU passageway to my office?"

"The maze-tunnel is reconfigured every week anyway," Sai said with a shrug. Behind him, feeling cramped in the narrow tunnel, Naruto and Sasuke scowled simultaneously. "Your silent-walking needs more work, Dickless Wonder," the ANBU-member muttered back.

Naruto pushed him through the door. It wasn't his fault that the damn tunnel was lined with wood so stiff and irregular that any tap made it cry like a hungry ghost. "Before you lecture, give us room to move!"

Sai brushed his arm, as if dirt was left where Naruto had shoved him. "I thought you two enjoyed the cross proximity." Sai turned to Hyuuga Hiashi. "You might want to reconsider making him a son-in-law. Not only does his equipment lack the proportion, but he'd rather use it on the Traitor than on your Mouse."

Naruto proceeded to walk up next to Sai, and land a punch in his gut. The move was too calm, brief and unexpected — at least to Sai, anyway. The ANBU-member knew that Tsunade did not tolerate fighting within her office, unless she herself was the initiator.

At the blow, Tsunade hastily got up from her desk. Just when Sai clutched his bare stomach, Sasuke swiped the ANBU-member clean off his feet with a kick behind the shins.

Sai landed on his back with a mild thud. He smiled to himself. At least he had correctly expected the Uchiha to join in the violence.

The Godaime slammed a fist down. Three cracks ran through her desk. "All three of you, CUT IT OUT!"

Tsunade watched all of them freeze in their positions. After about three seconds, Sasuke put one last kick on Sai's shoulder, and shrugged his posture to somewhat acknowledge the Hokage.

Hiashi only stood by, stoically observing all of this. Childish as that scuffle was, it enlightened him on many details.

First of all, Naruto's patience had turned brittle. Back when Naruto had taken everything from villagers, anything that ranged from taunts to frigid silence, he would just pretend to ignore it by acting the goofball, or angrily return it with big words, such as "Hokage". He more quiet now, but also a bit more brutal. Yes, Sai's tongue deserved a soapy washing ten times over, but Naruto could have held back his fist, especially on somehow who had revealed an ANBU passageway for him.

Next up was the Uchiha. Sasuke kicked ninja while they were down. Literally. The anger did not show up on his face, which was a good ninja skill. But as the Hyuuga patriarch, Hiashi had to worry. He and his ancestors had long dealt with the Uchiha clan as a powerful rival. What was more detrimental than a rival was an insane and sadistic enemy.

And Sai. Hiashi had no idea what to think of him. Besides the open navel and lack of scars, his looks screamed the pre-massacre Itachi. With his black hair in a short ponytail, and the gear that signaled the ANBU, Hiashi wondered whether it was just a coincidence. And _why_ would Sai reveal this highly secretive passage to chuunin like as Naruto and Sasuke? That danced on ANBU regulations.

"Hokage-sama, we request permission to search for Haruno Sakura," Sai announced, his face now blank. "And, if possible, Hyuuga Hinata."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "What gives you the idea that you would be successful?" She gave Naruto and Sasuke a pointed look. "I understand that you hold the two girls close," — Tsunade wanted to throw a senbon-needle at Sasuke as he rolled his eyes — "but determination is useless until you have information to channel it through. No reports have come concerning either of them."

"Because you don't send the search parties _far_ enough," Naruto said in an annoyed mumble.

"What's that?" Tsunade asked.

Before another yelling-exchange could start, Sai thrust a tied-up scroll in Tsunade's face. "For the past two months, I have been gathering data from traveling ANBU, hunter-nin, and even a few foreign ninja. If they recollected anybody with pink hair during their travels, I marked the villages in which they saw it." Sai unraveled the scroll: on it was an inked, abstract-styled map of the various countries. Pink stickers freckled its surface. "Each pink dot on this map indicates one such report."

Hiashi examined the map, then Naruto and Sasuke. The Hyuuga's expression inquired how the two met and cooperated with Sai (and perhaps even a subtle inquiry of any physical relations). Naruto made a scowl and a frantic wave of the hand, as if hoping to send the mental signal: '_I_ didn't make that gay map; Sai did!'

"The recent tasteless fad of neon-colored hair has made success in our quest improbable. But not impossible." Sai shot the Hokage an ironic smile. "Whether the hair color be pink, rainbow, or blond, the ridiculous hues are always easy to track."

A vein appeared on the Hokage's temple. 'Look at whom you're talking to, you idiot! _I'm_ a blonde!'

Tsunade took a calming breath. "I can see where you're going — but the hair-dying fad started right after the Chuunin exams, and now is highly popular. If pink hair is your only indicator, you're just looking for a needle in a haystack." She scowled at the coming thought. "Each town would have at least one fashion-obsessed girl with her head like a peach."

"Probably," Sai agreed. "But only in the towns whose citizens actually _came_ to Konoha, and watched the Chuunin Exams."

Tsunade blinked. She looked carefully at Sai. "You're going to look at the other towns," she said slowly. "Those whose citizens never directly saw the Exams."

As she predicted, Sai's finger indicated a peculiar group of pink dots stuck on the map. They were as far from civilization as one could be — yet they formed a _line_. Sai marked it by carelessly taking a fresh brush from Tsunade's inkwell and circling the area.

"No traces of Ugly were found in the urbanized areas for these past few months. So our next best bet is to focus on the _less fortunate _villages."

"Woaw, the bastard used a euphemism," Naruto said.

"And the Dickless Wonder used the word 'euphemism'." Sai refocused his attention back on Tsunade. "You know which villages I mean. Poor as mud. So deprived that even their mayor's sons wouldn't _dream _of traveling to a far away place, just to watch an organized dick-contest of guys fighting amongst themselves about who has the bigger set of jutsu — the entire thing ending with the Hokage proclaiming that it's not just the size of the set that counts, but also the hardness of loyalty."

Naruto and Sasuke were secretly mortified. Was Sai trying to get himself killed? Well, the second layer of his vocabulary would not be fully understood by younger children, but Tsunade was already in her fifties...

Tsunade managed to cough. "In other words, if we take the trail of... pink hair, we might be able to predict where Sakura might move next. Provided that she's in the less urbanized areas." She rolled up the map, and weighed it in her hands. "It would make sense, since our hunters haven't yet spotted her in the cities."

Naruto cleared his throat. "If you let us look for Sakura, Baa-chan," he said to Tsunade, who was now too tired to correct him anymore on the grandmother title, "then we can also keep on the lookout for Hinata." He turned to Hyuuga Hiashi. "Occhan, you're scared of the villagers spreading rumors about Hinata's disappearance, right? If Sasuke and I take a long leave, they'll just think that Hinata's off on a mission with us. Us three passed the Chuunin Exams together, ya know."

Tsunade unfolded her hands. Mentally dismissing Sai's lewd language and Naruto's disrespect, she pulled out a piece of paper, and began writing on it. "Interesting."

Hope began to bubble on the surface of Naruto's face. "So you'll consider granting us the mission?" he asked with excitement.

There was a pause. Tsunade scratched the back of her head. The three teenagers waited for her answer in quiet anticipation.

"Maybe."

Naruto blinked. That was it?

"You three are dismissed."

Tsunade pushed a button under the cracked tabletop of her desk.

There was a noise, almost like a snap.

Naruto felt himself dropping. He heard Sasuke and Sai curse to either side of him.

Darkness enveloped Naruto. Stubborn and undeterred, the blond tried to grab something. His hand only met a metal surface, extremely smooth. It reminded him of the slides he used to play on as a child.

He sent chakra into his hands for traction. He halted. On the steep slope, he breathed in relief.

Then something heavy hit his face, almost breaking his neck.

Naruto heard Sai's groan of pain. Then, the ANBU-member's voice then bounced off the metal walls of the tunnel, loud and sarcastic:

"Dickless Wonder, I'm somewhat flattered that you want to go down on me, but this is hardly the time and place."

Hanging above Sai and Naruto, Sasuke had to let off a choked laugh.

With an unholy shriek, Naruto let go of the metal's surface to distance himself from Sai. The sound reverberated against the walls of the tunnel. The blond ninja slid down what seemed like an endless drop.

When Naruto felt his body meet fresh open air, he thought he was about to expire. Not only the fright of falling down a pitch-black tunnel, but also that involuntary position... Even though it was in the dark, just _imagining it..._

The possibility of Naruto's ghost escaping his body increased, when his body crashed into pointed lumps.

The blond shinobi found himself on top of garbage bags. Well, at least Tsunade was not cruel enough to send him on top of a rotten compost heap.

The pain was doubled when another body landed on Naruto's back.

"Why the hell did you try to stop?" Sai drawled on top of him. "That was just another hidden tunnel for the ANBU. It'll probably be in session next week."

"Get off!" Naruto pushed Sai away. "What the hell is your problem, using double entendre in your speech all over the place? People will get ideas!"

Several villagers with grocery bags were gawking at the two shinobi. It was the height of business hours in Konoha's marketplace.

Then Sasuke fell out the end of the tunnel. Although he was bit more graceful and slower than the previous two victims of the hidden involuntary escape route, he also ended up sprawling on top of them.

"Sasuke, you'd better get off of us before things get worse," Naruto said in a now murderous tone, whilst the combined weight of Sai and Sasuke pressed down his movement. He could already hear a few shrieks of delight among the female citizens.

Sasuke immediately got out of the garbage, not wanting to have any physical contact with anything he considered trash. Including Sai. As the Uchiha walked away, he found it increasingly difficult to not throw a fireball into the confused crowd, especially while some blushing women were watching the three attractive ninja with hopeful eyes.

"I told you they were having an affair!" - "But I thought Naruto was going out with Hinata-sama..." -"Forbidden love! That's so _intense!_" - "But who's that other guy?" - "Who cares? He's HOT! It could even be a three-way..."

Being the introvert he was, Sasuke took to the rooftops. That would lose the crowd. Hopefully.

Except, the fact that Naruto and Sai were following was not exactly helpful.

"Naruto, go away," Sasuke hissed. "You're ruining my image."

"Who the hell cares what everybody else thinks?" Naruto exclaimed in a loud voice, echoing down half the street. "We have to stick together, Dumbass!"

Sasuke stopped, balancing on the edge of a rooftop, and gave Naruto a look that said, 'No freakin' way you just said that.' The unknown voice inside Sasuke screamed bloody murder.

"_I mean_, we need to keep the search mission in mind," the blond said, easily reading the meaning behind the red eyes. "You know, Sakura and Hinata?" Naruto sighed when he saw Sasuke's tension ease. It was a damn good thing that no curious female shoppers could follow them on the rooftops, or otherwise they also would know of Hinata's disappearance. Not to mention, the sensual dreams of certain village housewives would break in twain.

Naruto then turned to Sai. "You just _had_ to insult the Hokage and throw in sexual references everywhere, didn't you? Tsunade-no-baachan even put a trapdoor on us. A trapdoor!"

"Not my problem if everybody today is so PC," Sai said with a shrug. "Political correctness sterilizes all humor."

Naruto rubbed his unruly blond hair. "Now what? That hag refused."

"She did not," Sasuke argued. From what he remembered, Tsunade had not said 'no'. She had given them a 'Maybe'.

"Uchiha, Uchiha." Sai slung an arm over Sasuke — who froze at the gesture, and threw off the offending limb. "You obviously don't know shit about women's language to men. 'Yes' means 'no'. 'No' means 'yes'. 'Maybe' means 'no'."

"Hina-chan doesn't do that to me!" Naruto insisted, almost in a whine as he thought about his adorable girlfriend.

"She could be doing it less often than the normal woman. But still does it." The ANBU-member smiled. "There's also men's language to women. 'Nice dress' means 'I'm considering the possibility of having sex with you'. 'You're beautiful' means 'I want to have sex with you'. 'Will you marry me?' means 'I want to make it socially damaging for you to have sex with other men'."

**'Yeah baby, sing out the truth!'** the foreign tongue within Sasuke rejoiced.

Naruto had to slightly snicker at Sai's observation. Maybe it held some truth; he himself had fantasized about Hinata in various less-than-innocent matters of business. But then the blond noticed the lack of a similar crack of laughter in Sai's own expression. It was just a blank, continuously fake smile.

"You have no emotions at all, do you?" Naruto asked.

Sai dropped the smile a bit, opening his eyes to fully stare at the blond shinobi. "No. I don't," the ANBU-member said in a clear voice. Something like a sneer appeared to tease at the corner of his mouth, just barely. "What's it to you?"

"Enough," Sasuke said with a growl. He turned to the pseudo-Itachi, and stared at him hard. "You gave Tsunade a scroll with fake statistics. Didn't you?"

"Aren't you sharp." Sai took out another scroll, and unraveled it. The system was the same — whatever village that had experienced pink hair craze, was marked with a pink sticker — but the stickers were in different places from those in Sai's first scroll, which had been taken by Tsunade. "I had suspected that the old hag wouldn't let us go so easily."

Naruto looked relieved. "So you planted a bogus scroll. That'll give us some space apart from the real search parties." Naruto folded his hands behind his head. "But... wouldn't Tsunade-no-baachan realize that hers is a fake?"

"I'm the only person in the ANBU who made the effort to collect such miniscule stats from rural areas," Sai said. "So she can't verify it as a phony, until she sends out other people and they come back with different data. It would take her at least two months."

There was a silence between the three.

"Leave tonight?" Naruto suggested. A pause. A vulpine grin spread on Naruto's features as his chuckled. "Sasuke, you know you _so_ want to. You were dying back there to reveal your own evidence on Sakura-chan's movements."

"She's turning into a tramp," Sasuke said, as if that were his main reason to search for her at all. She was just a wayward child to him. Yes, that was what she was.

"Tramp," Sai echoed in the Uchiha's face. "Like that blown kiss to Rock Lee?" Obviously, he had read the unconfirmed hospital reports on Lee's delirium. "Ugly and Fugly, sittin' in a tree—"

"Gather as much gear as you think you'll need," Sasuke said through clenched teeth, his inner fury rising at Sai's taunts. "Midnight. Here."

* * *

Natsumi walked into the storage room of the pharmacy. She put a hand on her aching back, and winced. 'Getting old is so annoying...'

She then stopped. Hinata stood in the chemistry room, her face pale and slightly drenched with sweat.

Natsumi wondered whether she had seen this scene before. "Hinata? Are you all right?"

Hinata looked up, and gave a smile. "I'm fine, Obaa-sama." She turned back to the pot she recently had been dozing over. "Obaa-sama... could I ask you a question? About this village?"

Natsumi stared at Hinata. She then looked away. "Of course, Hinata-chan. What would you like to know?" The tone in her voice suggested uneasiness.

"Why are most of the people in this town men?" Hinata asked.

There was a long pause.

Hinata felt something clench inside herself. From how uncomfortable Natsumi appeared, Hinata's question must have been taboo. The blue-haired girl looked down, feeling extremely awkward. Still, Hinata waited for an answer from Natsumi.

The guilty look disappeared from the elderly pharmacist. A new, beautifully lined smile lit up Natsumi once more. "After lunch, we'll go gather some roots near the ruins. You'll need to learn how to cut the tougher varieties."

Hinata nodded politely. Natsumi had avoided the question altogether. She had to wonder, what was so touchy about the gender imbalance. How did it happen anyway?

'I wish I had Warashi-chan with me,' Hinata thought as she stirred the compote in front of her. 'He would be able to figure out anything...'

Hinata frowned to herself. Speaking of the devil, where in the world was Zashiki Warashi? Perhaps the child-ghost was locally confined to the Fire Country. Hinata had read that specific kami and ghosts hung out in basically the same areas. Even if the ghost-child could teleport between spaces, there was a good chance that he was bound with restrictions like any other guardian-spirits.

"Actually, maybe now would be a better time to get those roots."

Hinata blinked. Natsumi was the one who had spoken. The old pharmacist had the same troubled look in her face as before, but she was more restless as she took Hinata's hand. The kunoichi noticed how sweaty Natsumi's skin was.

"Come, Hinata-chan. We'll prepare lunch later."

Hinata was speechless as Natsumi pulled her out of the chemistry room. The old woman let go for a moment to fetch a basket from the kitchen, but she came back, and took Hinata out of the house and through the streets.

Finally, they exited the gates of the village, and reached a grove of thin, baby trees. Several willows stood and swayed, organic curtains above a collection of stones set on the ground below.

As the old woman and young girl entered the place, Hinata realized that the stones were multiple statues of Jizou. The Bodhisattva of children. The conditions of the figures varied. Some held a layer of moss, with what visible stone left, dry and smooth. There were a few statues, clean, with spots of dampness — 'Some people must have recently come by to wash them,' Hinata thought.

But the most curious ones were the statues with red cloth hoods, and red squares of cloth tied around their necks, like baby bibs.

Hinata watched Natsumi walk over to a pair of statues. The woman crouched down, fighting the pain against her bones. She reached in her basket, and took out a tiny bamboo tray with dango. She placed it in front of two Jizou-statues, each with a red square cloth. She withdrew her shaking hand, only to let it meet with the other one in prayer.

Hinata almost let out a gasp. Panicking, she crouched down with Natsumi, and put her hands together quietly. She had to take care not to make a sounding clap here when bringing her hands together — clapping was allowed at Shinto shrines to call upon the attention of the kami, but not at Buddhist statues. Especially statues that symbolized...

It broke Hinata's heart thinking about it. Tetsu would have had sisters. Two of them. Only that they had been —

"I was afraid back then," Natsumi began, her voice taking on a slight warble as she contemplated the serene statues. "Ever since that... that _machine _came to our village — Everybody felt so pressured to get children who could continue the family name."

Hinata thought for a moment. A machine, that would influence people to continue the family name? It made no sense.

Then something came up from her hospital experiences.

"Ultrasound?" Hinata asked.

When Natsumi nodded in response, Hinata closed her eyes. She had heard of such a phenomenon. Hinata knew well about ultrasound technology from her minor work under Tsunade. Whenever the sole ultrasound machine in the hospital broke (usually because Tsunade got impatient with both machine and instruction manual), Hinata was called to bring her own system that checked the health of a fetus in a pregnant woman — the Byakugan, of course.

The details of what she was allowed to reveal, however, was strictly regulated. Both by the hospital and the moral code within the Hyuuga.

Hinata was never allowed to reveal whether the fetus was male or female.

Far, far back in the Hyuuga's history, there had been a number of incidents of clansmen receiving pay from pregnant women of the village, in exchange for informing them the gender of their unborn. This resulted in many terminated pregnancies — and an overabundance of males among clientele in the long run.

The Hyuuga themselves did not abort their potential offspring. But their services made a backlash in their long-term business, as their clientele often could not find enough women in the high classes to marry and have children with.

A legend even existed that the Hyuuga clan had originally migrated to the area near the modern-day Leaf, because other ninja villages considered them a curse. Wherever they went, the wives of poor daimyo would 'mysteriously miscarry' their would-be firstborns. (Of course the wives would deny that they had arranged for such a thing to happen.) Perhaps it was why their bloodline limit had a nickname of the 'evil eyes' in some faraway countries, even though it was clear in writing that it just meant 'white eyes'.

"What about _muko youshi —_ adopting a son?" Hinata asked. "If a family only has daughters, the head daughter can marry a man and give him her family name, right? That way you can carry on the family lineage without necessarily having a son in blood!"

Natsumi was now almost weeping as she continued to speak. She only seemed weary of carrying a heavy burden, and now glad that she could unload it, just for a moment. "Hinata, I'm glad that your village has such a thing. But not here. That sort of thing is class-dependent... Everybody is quite equal — well, the men are — so every man wants to have his name survive." She gently stroked a Jizou-statue its cheek: the gesture copied that of a mother admiring a newborn. "Murashi-san had suspected something," Natsumi said, as if it were a casual observance on the weather. "He looked so... sad, when I finally told him. He told me then that he would have been happy with a girl."

Even if Hinata turned out to be unsympathetic, Natsumi simply had the urge to tell this to someone. Someone normal.

Up until now, Natsumi had never told this to any of her fellow villagers. During their fruitful years, all her female friends seemed to act as if going through such a thing — putting away females from the womb — was normal. Which it actually was, in this village. Few women seemed to have courage to birth a girl, to raise a girl, and finally watch that girl taken away in marriage and then also pressured to have only boys. The cycle would just repeat.

"But I still wanted to give Murashi-san a boy. He is a good man. A much better husband than what the other women of our village sometimes get." Natsumi kept going with completely dry eyes, as if her eyes had already given up all the tears they could shed. "But... after the second time over, I..."

Hinata waited for her to continue.

Natsumi drew in a wobbly breath. Her left hand traced her stomach. "Empty."

That one word repeated in Hinata's mind. When she realized what the old pharmacist meant by that, she looked down at the green grass. The annoyed frustration that had festered in the Priestess after hearing of Natsumi's past decisions, now seemed to turn into something else. Pity? Sadness?

"But," Hinata found herself speaking, almost in horror at her rudeness, "Tetsu-san came into the world. He is yours, correct?"

Natsumi adjusted the red hoods of the Jizou statues, tightening them over their bald heads. "Yes." It came out almost as a croak. "Yes," she repeated, sighing, "Tetsu is my son."

Natsumi make one more gesture of prayer to the statues, before standing up straight. The meditation seemed to have given the old woman a bit of renewed grace in her steps, although still feeble. She passed the many Buddhist statues, one by one.

Natsumi waved Hinata over. "Come, Hinata." Her voice was more clear and flowing than before. "I'll show you the ruins of the Four Tengu. There are rare plants that only the Taketori family knows how to use."

Hinata walked with her in quiet obedience. As they left the field, Hinata took a last glance back at the two Jizou-statues. Somehow, she doubted that even Tetsu did not know what Natsumi just poured out to her.

* * *

Sakura dropped a few coins into a street vendor's hands. In exchange, she received three sticks of dango, which she happily skipped off with to share with Minoru and Potamos.

As they were currently not in the vicinity, however, Sakura decided to taste her own stick in advance. Her eyes greedily swam in the brown sugary-syrup. The balls of melted rice were still warm, the best way to have them.

She could not hold her patience.

Her inner self cried in ecstasy as she bit off one dango. Their party of three had eaten too much bland food during the winter. The medic-nin's could not get enough sucrose that was offered these weeks of spring festivity.

A daydream suddenly flashed passed her. It was a depiction of herself sitting under a cherry blossom tree for a _hanami_, the annual viewing of the cherry blossoms. Naruto and Hinata were cuddling together against a tree nearby. Kakashi, Tsunade, and several other ninja were passing around sake. Sasuke buying her dango...

Sakura blinked. 'What the hell?' It was not even possible for Uchiha Sasuke to crack a smile like that in real life.

She mentally kicked away the laughable image. She sighed to herself. How depressing and pathetic: after four months of pure work, she finally received time to relax, and the only thing her mind was capable of doing was to wander off, thinking of old friends she could never have back.

Maybe it had been seeing Sasuke once again, in all his graceful ninja glory (well, in the fighting arena; in the bar he really did look wretched), that Sakura began thinking about him again. His pure determination to be a great shinobi and ice-cool demeanor was what had attracted her to Sasuke in their younger years, after all.

In truth, Sakura had been extremely scared during the Kiyomizu Tournament that Sasuke would find her out. But with the careful disguise, heavy kendô armor, and the voice-changing potion from Minoru, Sakura had managed to assist Sasuke while still escaping unnoticed.

'I only helped Sasuke because he looked like he really wanted to compete. He needed a samurai for that competition, after all.' Sakura licked her lower lip, preventing a drop of dewy syrup from oozing down her chin. 'But why am I thinking such weird things about him practically everyday now? It's as if a piece of his aura is watching over me everyday...'

At the wooden bottom of the inrou attached to Sakura's belt, a sticker pulsed faintly.

She forced a smile. 'Watching over me... HA! That sounds like something out of a goddamn romance novel.' The kunoichi poked her wrist with the dango-stick's wooden point, a small punishment for her girlish fantasies. 'I've got to grow up. _I_ have to learn how to make myself happy. Not rely on some guy to do it for me.'

Her chakra senses began to tingle. Sakura's green eyes opened.

'Ninja.'

The pink-haired samurai tilted her green hat down as a shinobi walked by. Her blood curdled: the hitai-ate told that it was a ninja from the Hidden Sound.

When he passed the corner, and Sakura knew for sure that he was gone and _not_ onto her, she swallowed the chewed-up mess of a dango that she had been lulling in her mouth.

The Sound.

She had almost forgotten that it even existed. Well, of course she _knew_ that it existed. It was just that she had mainly associated it with the curse — and later the apprenticeship — that Orochimaru bestowed on Sasuke. And now that Sasuke was safe and more-or-less-happy again in the Leaf, Sakura had, until now, put the Hidden Sound Village on mental hold.

She carefully pushed her straw hat up to see the ninja at a distance. An Oto-nin walking around at this time of day, in a purely civilian village, indicated some sort of special circumstance. Even if he was patrolling, the fact that he was patrolling in order to be seen, hitai-ate gleaming bright, indicated that something was up in this town.

Using light footwork, Sakura breezed through chattering shoppers and yelling merchants. It was nothing fancy with chakra; it was only simple maneuvering. She skirted around moving objects, from tiny dogs on leashes to humongous rolling carts full of imported vegetables, without having a single splash of mud fleck on her hakama-pants (not that one could tell if they were dirty, as they were black to begin with).

The patrolling ninja from the Sound stopped at a corner vendor. He purchased a stick of teriyaki chicken, hot off the griddle. He chewed on it as he curiously looked into the next alleyway, and proceeded to walk in.

Sakura hid the small plate of dango behind her left sleeve as the teriyaki vendor went by on her left — it would be a bit rude to show the cook that his competition a block down had already seduced a potential customer. When the vendor stated whether she would like some teriyaki, as expected, Sakura only gave a smile and a quiet shake of the head.

She entered the narrow alleyway, and looked around. It led to a dead end. She traced her eyes carefully over the walls; there obviously had to be some sort of trapdoor.

There was a slight line on the walls, like a crack. Sakura squinted her eyes. She put a tiny jet of chakra into a blink, interrupting any possible lines of genjutsu that were obscuring her vision.

A clear, rectangular door appeared before her for a brief second.

Sakura eased her eyes' movement over to the next squares, as if she had not noticed anything. She began to walk back to the opening of the alleyway. 'I have to tell Minoru-san this,' Sakura chanted to herself, striding towards the main street. 'He might be able to—'

It was then that she felt the chakra of the previous Oto-nin. It was like a pulse through her senses.

The small pop of a blowgun resounded behind her. 'Senbon?' She turned around in panic.

It was the wrong move.

A needle stuck into the collar of her montsuki-shirt.

The nausea drowned out her senses.

* * *

Notes:

"Jizou" - also known as "Ksitigarbha", or "Dizang" in Chinese, Jizoh is a popular Mahayana Buddhist Bodhisattva, usually shown as a standing monk. His name can be translated as 'womb of the earth'. He is the guardian of travelers, pregnant women and children.

"Hinata" - means 'sunshine'. Strangely enough, the normal Japanese kanji for the word "hinata" is also used as the kanji for the name "Hyuuga" in the Naruto series. (All the personal names in the Naruto series are written in katakana, including Hinata's. So even though one can't directly see it, her full name actually means 'sunshine sunshine'. A bit odd, really.)

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	40. Robbers

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

ATTENTION, NARUTO FANFICTION-WRITERS:

The phrase "Sasuke-teme" is incorrect.

I hear gasps and complaints already.

Why is it wrong? As it turns out, the word "teme" (or "temee", if you want to show that the last vowel is lengthened) is actually a very rude form of 'you'. It is NOT a suffix, like "-chan" or "-san" or "-kun". It does not mean 'bastard', either.

So what is it?

"Teme" is a form of the pronoun 'you'. The word was originally "temae", which means, 'that which is in front of my hand'. Which implies servitude, lower class, etc.

In Japanese, there are multiple forms of the word 'you'. There are also different forms of 'you' in other languages, including Indo-european: the "du" and "Sie" in German, the "tu" and "vous" in French, and the older English "thou" and "you" — they usually denote hierarchy or familiarity between the speakers. In Japan, because there are so many ranks and differentiations of hierarchy, there are many, many forms of 'you'. (One Japanese dictionary records over 120 versions! Most of them are now archaic, of course.)

So if one does use "teme", it has to stand alone, or at least be separated from a name by a comma. So while "Sasuke-teme" is _in_correct, "Sasuke, teme" or just "Teme" are correct.

But it's easy to see why non-Japanese speakers, even those who've seen Naruto with subtitles, would mistake "teme" to mean 'bastard'. The translators had to insert that, in order to show that Naruto was being very, very rude to Sasuke. Calling a guy a bastard is the ultimate way to insult a guy in English, but Naruto doesn't actually say that in Japanese. (I think that the word for 'bastard' in Japanese is "yarou". I think Naruto might have used that word sparingly towards Sasuke, but I can't remember well. And don't count on me for that definition of "yarou"; I need to dig more.)

So to those fanfiction-writers who were avoided typing down that glitch: congratulations! It means that you know something about Japanese!

"Quotations"

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 40: Robbers

* * *

Sakura collapsed to the ground. The needle on the side of her neck felt weird. The flesh around it was practically numb. For that reason alone did the medic-nin feel blank in the head.

The ninja from the Sound knelt down to the body. He cocked an eyebrow at the black kendô uniform. 'A rounin?' He then saw a bit of strewn hair underneath the green hat. In the shadow of the green straw, the hair was an odd hue. Curious, the Oto-nin lifted it up.

Pink.

He almost spat in disgust. He took out a kunai, and placed it over the unconscious rounin's throat. He decided that it would be putting the creature out of his misery.

He hesitated a moment. With the tip of the blade, he lifted up the rounin's bangs like a delicate curtain. A female. And a pretty one at that. The Oto-nin guessed that she was a bit of a tomboy: her chest looked bound, and no trace of makeup was on her face. Not even a drop of lip-gloss kissed her mouth. Yet her petal tresses and facial features were feminine, almost hauntingly so.

The Oto-nin hoisted the pink-haired girl over his back. He noticed her eyes were partially open. Sweat dripped down her face. He then remembered that he had set paralysis liquid dosage on the needles for a large, burly man. This girl was probably half that weight, so of course she would pass out immediately. She might even die.

The ninja turned to the right side of the alleyway wall, and performed a set of hand-seals. "Kai!"

Briefly, the kanji for 'seal' appeared on the wall in a red glow, and then burned away as a large door took its place. The Oto-nin slid it open, and stepped inside with the girl on his back. The door disappeared against the brick wall behind him.

Sakura felt her brain in a muddle. Not only was there a senbon in her neck, but an Oto-nin was carrying her into a hideout.

'I am so stupid. I'm so dead. If I'm not dead, I'm screwed.'

Bad, bad images came up with that last thought. Sakura decided she did not want to think about it anymore. Sure enough, her consciousness went out like a light, then and there.

* * *

Hinata's pale eyes snapped open. Did she just hear something?

The gritty surface of a boulder was all that met her. Strange, how she had been so engrossed in such a simple task as raking, that her mind blanked out for a moment.

The Priestess swore that during her lapse, she had heard human words in the wind. Somewhere on the lines of '_If I'm not dead, I'm screwed._'

Needless to say, it bothered Hinata. It did not sound like the spirit of a hungry ghost, but rather a kindred spirit, still alive, but tired — tired to the point of annoyance. The voice rang familiar to Hinata, too, but she could not remember who possessed it.

She swallowed, and continued raking the layer of pebbles at her feet.

Taking care of the rock garden was a morning ritual of the Taketori household. Each morning, one person would go out and rake. The direction of the lines could be adjusted according to seasons, but the main objective was to make a repetition of even patterns among the small rocks.

It was Hinata's first time in such a task. She felt a bit silly the night before, thinking about what it meant to rake a rock garden. But now that she was actually _doing_ it, she felt herself mentally alert, along with getting a tough physical workout.

She wiped her sweating forehead. 'This is harder than it looks!' The blue-haired girl then felt a sting. Hinata looked at her right hand: an area red from gripping around the rake so tightly all morning. There was even a blister.

Somehow, all that tough palm skin Hinata had earned through ninja-training was already gone. Now that she thought about it, she had not seriously practiced the Gentle Fist in over a month.

In frustration, Hinata scrunched up her eyes, and performed a Jyuuken thrust against the air.

A large sphere of light-blue aura burst out of her palm.

Hinata held in that position, stunned. Finally, she withdrew her palm, and examined it. The blister had ruptured. A watery substance dripped out of the puffy, red balloon.

The kunoichi was amazed: she had expected something of chakra to come out, but not that large of an emission. Normally, one's chakra level tended to be a bit lower immediately after physical exercise, although chakra reserves could gradually expand over time as the body adjusted to training.

Hinata looked at the rake. She felt a bit unsure to deduce this, but perhaps the Buddhist exercise of raking rock gardens had something to do with it. Maybe several 'zoning out' moments helped the Jyuuken. Perhaps this was why Neji was so good; he naturally practiced meditation as part of training, along with the physical exercise. Hinata also did 'meditation', but most of the time devoted to it was almost always worrying that it would not work. Which probably erased the whole point.

"You're thinking too much."

Hinata almost yelped at Tetsu's drawl. The platinum blond stood upon the outside hallway of the house, watching her from a distance.

"The aim of the exercise is to forget your surroundings, yet be one with them," Tetsu said. "If you think about the benefits of meditation, or lack thereof, you're not meditating anymore."

Hinata gave a weak smile. Tetsu did not look amused.

The boy suddenly was besieged with a fit of coughs. Hinata watched Tetsu stifle them into a sleeve. She walked across the yard towards him.

Tetsu gradually felt his coughs die down. When he looked up, Hinata was already two meters in front of him. "What, giving up already?"

The girl with dark hair did not answer. Tetsu looked increasingly tense as she rose onto the veranda. The way her feet arched as they let slip off the geta-sandals onto the yard, one after the other, held a natural grace that made Tetsu uneasy — although he could not pinpoint _why._

Hinata stood up right to his eye-level. Then, her right arm blurred.

Tetsu almost choked at the forceful way Hinata put her scarf around his neck. "If you have a cold, you shouldn't walk the hallways with an open throat," Hinata said, her voice with just a sliver of evil glee.

"Don't touch me," Tetsu growled, backing away from her.

Hinata noticed that he did not take off the scarf. "Since when were you watching?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Since you started raking." Tetsu looked back at her, and then realized that a blushing look of awe was on Hinata's face. "Your raking was too loud!" he explained, defensive. "You're _obviously_ a novice if you can't do it without waking people up."

Hinata looked down. "Well, it _is_ a rock garden..."

"Then do it so that its sounds are soothing enough!" Tetsu snapped.

There was a pause between them. Actually, Hinata had wanted to know whether he saw her Jyuuken move. He seemed to have, but did not mention it as anything out of the ordinary.

Tetsu looked away. "Shit," he muttered under his breath, "I'm lecturing a girl about _raking rocks._" Annoyed at his own temper, and at Hinata for existing, Tetsu strode down the veranda towards the main hallway.

Hinata watched curiously as the platinum blond walked away. A smile crept on her face, and she hastened after him. "Wait, Tetsu-sama!"

The Naruto-look-alike froze in his steps at the title. He then felt a light push on his back: Tetsu turned around to see a mop of dark-blue hair resting on his shoulders. Because of his sudden stop, Hinata had run into him.

A smile came from Hinata as she looked up at him. From Tetsu's point of view, her face almost glowed. Her hands lightly gripped the back of his yukata. "Let's make breakfast together."

Tetsu looked confused.

"Your parents are not awake yet," Hinata said. "We should make breakfast for them."

Tetsu scowled complainingly, and cast his eyes to focus instead on the lower corner of the door. "You're weird."

"Really?" Hinata felt nervous at how Tetsu's words echoed that of Naruto. She stepped away from him, and folded her hands behind her back. "I am a little weird, perhaps." She looked up with a smile. "But... one of my relatives had an instructor that called it 'unique'!"

Gai's bright smile flashed through her memory. Hinata involuntarily shuddered, despite her gratefulness for the jounin's unbeatable optimism. An attitude like that at his age was a rarity.

Tetsu scratched the back of his silver head. "Fine. Breakfast. I can do that." He glared at Hinata. "But only because I happened to be up, and it's for my parents. NOT because of you."

She quietly followed behind the platinum blond to the kitchen. Inside, Hinata was rejoicing that she learned something new about him. 'He cares about his parents!'

* * *

The Oto-nin laid the pink-haired girl onto a bed. He paused a bit to contemplate the girl, thinking of what some of his other comrades would do in such a situation. Take advantage, he supposed. He then shook his head. She was overdosed with paralysis liquid! 'If you're going to do her, she should be _partially_ awake,' he berated himself, 'not like Orochimaru-sama. I can't tell if he's into pedophilia or necrophilia...'

"What are you doing?" a smooth voice asked through the darkness.

The Oto-nin jerked his head around. A blond in white and sky-blue Shinto robes stood there. How such a person managed to enter this dark, dank hideout was inconceivable. 'Is he a ninja like me?' Thus thinking, the shinobi took out a kunai.

Walking towards the shinobi, Minoru raised his arm. With a flick of his wrist, a multitude of thin vines crawled out of the dumpsters to either side of the Oto-nin. They latched onto his body like hungry leeches. The ninja was so shocked that he could not even yell.

The blond elf walked over to Sakura, and checked her over. A miniscule sprout jumped from his sleeve, and crawled around Sakura's neck, unseen by the ninja who was too frightened and distracted with the entangling vines.

Once contact with her blood was established at Sakura's wound, the sprout inserted one end around the puncture. Roots no thicker than hair tickled around the embedded needle, checking what sort of poisonous chemical was on it.

Minoru turned his gaze back onto the man. With a strange coldness in his blue eyes, the blond snapped his fingers: another collection of vines grabbed the man's throat from behind, and _squeezed_.

For ten seconds, the elf held his control as such. He slowly neared his face to the suffocating shinobi. "What business does an Oto-nin like yourself have in these parts?" Minoru asked calmly. " Tell me."

The man turned blue with the lack of air.

"Oh, right." Minoru loosened his palm. The vines that choked the shinobi fell to the ground.

The Oto-nin gasped. "Patrolling!" he rasped out after a few pants. "This village hires us for law enforcement!" As he took a few more breaths, he studied the shrine worker from head to toe. "You know, such ninjutsu would be looked favorably upon in our village."

Anger flashed momentarily in the elf's thoughts. 'How dare you attempt to recruit me for a village devoted to Necromancy, lowly Human!' Minoru snapped his fingers once more. The tendrils again covered the man's neck, moving at double their previous speed.

The man crunched his eyes. Instead of suffocation or even a neck-break he expected, the green vines continued to spread on the rest of his body. The ivy crawled over his face and arms in a gentle manner. A feathery prick went into his shoulders, and at that moment a dizzy sensation began to overwhelm him. His face was still open to the air.

Minoru gave the shinobi a hard look. The only reason why he was not killing him was because he had actually attempted to give Sakura a bit of medical care. Albeit he was the one who gave that paralysis needle, and he looked like he had no experience at all in the science of antidotes. The good will was there. "Send a message to your leader, the Kage of the Sound. His name was... Orochimaru, was it not?"

The ninja squirmed in the ivy blanket. To hear a mere shrine-worker speak that name brought chills.

"If he goes looking for any new sources of power such as, say, the Sesshou-seki," — Minoru smirked at the man — "a legion of tengu will tear him apart so many times over, that the smallest piece remaining will be able to pass through the eye of a needle."

The ninja swallowed as Minoru's blue eyes bore into him. The Sesshou-seki was a top-secret artifact. Orochimaru had ordered him and a few other Oto-nin to search for it, on a long covert investigation. Strangely enough, the snake-sage had not even told them what it _was_. There had not even been a physical description of what it looked like. The only thing that was clear from its name was that it was a rock.

"If he is unaffected by that message," Minoru continued, "then tell him that Uchiha Itachi will back the legion up." The blond elf allowed a pause so that the information would sink into the human. Minoru fingered a strand of loose blond hair behind his ear. "Now sleep well."

The Oto-nin sprawled on the ground, fast asleep. The vines around him shriveled apart, and fell to the ground in dry pieces.

The elf put his focus back on Sakura. Minoru carefully grasped the senbon protruding from Sakura's collar. Thanks to the sprout he had sent to the wound, the poison was mostly absorbed. The instant Minoru withdrew the needle, a drop of blood swelled at the site: he pressed a clean gauze pad there.

Minoru's finger of accidentally brushed over a spot on Sakura's throat. He noticed how white and smooth it was. Her straw had shielded the skin there, making its texture near to that of a baby's back.

Minoru noticed something else when he touched her neck: her eyelids twitched.

His blue eyes narrowed. "Sakura-_san_."

Her forehead creased in response. "Is it out?" Sakura had her eyes still closed.

"I drew it out. Only just now." The blond elf gathered Sakura up in his arms. It was not because she was physically numb; her bloodstream was now clean. But Minoru detected a bit of shock in her state of mind.

Minoru walked through the wall, bypassing the illusion that it was completely solid. He stepped outside into the fresh air — of an alley. He mumbled some lines at the brick walls. Brown vines cracked through the ground in front of him, and traveled up. With his human cargo, the blond climbed the flight of tendrils, and stepped onto rooftop.

He made his trip quick: only two jumps across houses were necessary to make enough room between them and the unconscious Oto-nin.

"Is there something wrong with me, Minoru-san?"

The blond elf touched down to the earth. He did not appear surprised at Sakura's sudden question. Minoru let her down to her feet gently.

"You are far from weak," Minoru said, tugging on his Shinto robes to straighten them out. "But when you were attacked, your fright was so strong that I could detect it many strides away." He looked at the medical ninja carefully. "Do you possess a phobia that you have not told me about? I mean, a fear of something other than... that man."

Sakura tried to swallow with her dry throat. Now that she thought about it, the senbon hit something in her memories. She could not fully recollect. 'But I wasn't _that_ scared,' she reasoned, 'I had just been surprised at the moment...'

(( "Naruto!" Sakura called. "You're okay!"

The mist was clearing up. Relief flooded the kunoichi as she saw her blond teammate, safe and unhurt. Their opponent had been a boy not much older than they were, but was cold and fearsome. She almost believed that they would lose. But Haku ended up sacrificing himself, and somehow they made it...

Someone was missing from the picture, however.

"Ah, Naruto! Where's Sasuke?" ))

Sakura clutched the side of her head. "_Fuck_."

Minoru raised an eyebrow at her language. "You are recalling something in your past," he said, his blue eyes reading her. "But whatever weakness springs from it, it could not possibly be worse than your temper..."

'I didn't ask him to pinpoint it,' Sakura grumbled to herself.

Minoru sensed the annoyance radiating from the girl. "In truth, I do not think your attitude is hot enough to constitute a true temper," the blond elf said, softening his analysis. "I have seen greater fury from your instructor in kendô."

A new voice entered their conversation.

"Sacchan, Mino-chan! Lookie at what I picked up!"

A short, lavender-haired girl bounded up to Sakura and Minoru, a black cloth booklet in hand.

Potamos' chest was heaving. She looked like she had just run a marathon. From the bar. She still wore her revealing dancer outfit, but now all the flesh and glitz was loosely covered by a trench coat. Potamos stuck the booklet in Sakura's face.

"Snagged this off a player in a club," Potamos said. "He didn't notice."

Sakura took the book, and unfolded it. Her jaw slightly dropped. It was a pocket-sized notebook, filled with pictures of wanted criminals. Potamos mostly likely had stolen it from a bounty hunter. Inserted among the pages was a leaflet — on which were printed the black-and-white images of two very familiar people.

-Uchiha Sasuke, 100,000 ryou. Uzumaki Naruto, 105,000 ryou. Wanted by the Water Village for multiple robberies. _An additional 100,000 ryou if brought alive_.-

Sakura felt as if her head would spontaneously combust any time now. 'Naruto? Sasuke? ROBBERY?'

The pink-haired girl walked through the calm street with her feet almost clapping upon the pavement at each step. How or why her teammates ended up being worth one to two thousand ryou each — through _robbery_, no less — was beyond her. Her voice was in limbo between worry and annoyance. "What've they been _doing_ while I've been gone?" she said in a deadly whisper. "They're on normal bounty hunter lists?"

Potamos tagged behind her. "Ah, wait Sacchan, I haf'ta fill your bag with supplies."

A sack of groceries dangled from the purple-haired girl's arm, something that Sakura had not noticed at first. In response, Sakura slowed down her gait a little.

Sakura continuing to walk was not satisfactory for Potamos. The water-demon eventually pounced on the medic-nin. "Hold _still_!"

Sakura yelped as Potamos tackled her to the ground. Yet her eyes kept scanning the pictures and words on the flier, as if having a little girl fill her traveling pouch while sitting on her back was normal.

The pink-haired kunoichi was stunned. Shinobi were hardly ever pasted on common wanted ads. Wanted ads were only printed out by villages that deemed it cheaper to hire hobby-mercenaries rather than ninja teams to go after criminals, rather than an official ninja team. Even if it took longer to catch the culprit, it sometimes was a village's only affordable choice to get justice.

And even if a ninja were disrupting society, their true face would rarely be known by the public. The Henge no Jutsu could easily cover their identity for them when they did something less than legal. And for the most dangerous, the S-rank criminals, their home villages would not be so dumb as to put their faces of fliers. No only would it risk many bounty hunters' lives, but the other shinobi villages would have a promising recruit. Thus existed the purpose of special squads, like hunter-nin and ANBU.

Sakura turned up to look at Potamos, and sighed. The water-demon certainly picked up disturbing information. "Good thing you didn't take the bounty hunter's ID card as well."

Potamos looked at the kunoichi under her. "Who says I didn't?"

Sakura's face turned horrified at the small leather booklet Potamos whipped out. Minoru laughed. "Good move, Devil-child," he said, "but you have probably set the original owner onto your trail."

"I thought you might want to use it as a second identity," the water-demon said with a pout.

The blond elf looked doubtful as he fingered through the pages. "Well, identification items are indeed useful, if you want to turn to banditry," Minoru said. "But do you really believe that I would take the guise of such a hideous creature?" His long fingers held out the open booklet, almost daintily, as if the picture therein were a rotten piece of fruit.

'The bounty hunter isn't _that_ bad-looking,' Sakura thought. She heard a zipper close behind her; Potamos was done refilling her bag. Sakura stood up. "There's not way that Shishou could have issued this," the medic-nin said, holding out the flier. Her green eyes caught some fine print at the bottom. "And the village asking to turn them in is the Water Country, which is now in civil war. This is completely out of date."

Minoru drew the leaflet from Sakura's hands. "I ought to show Itachi this. It would amuse him."

Sakura, frightened at the sadistic glee in Minoru's voice, ripped it away. "You will NOT!"

"I was kidding." Minoru huffed. "Amusing that man is practically impossible. He is like a stone whenever spoken to — only, stones express more emotions." His blue eyes reread the bottom line of the paper. "Sakura-san, this village is not in the Water County."

"It isn't?" Sakura scratched her forehead. "My geography must be turning rusty."

"Not exactly." Minoru handed the flier back to Sakura. "The village which issued this leaflet, had been invaded two weeks ago by their neighbor across the border." The elf nodded at Sakura's shocked face. "Yes, Sakura-san. The civil war is no more a civil war. Other countries are being drawn in. Feeling how new the paper's texture is, the flier must be a forgery."

Sakura swallowed as she looked at the ad. She folded the paper with care, and tucked it within her montsuki-shirt. It would probably be the only pictures of Naruto and Sasuke she would have in a long time, perhaps the last.

* * *

Sai ambled down the streets, pencil and sketchbook ready in position. His dark eyes flitted around for anything that looked interesting. Any object or person that would be worthy of recording...

He halted in his steps. He turned around.

"You weren't ogling my ass, were you?" Sai asked.

Naruto walked past him. "If you don't like being in front, then I'll go."

"You make me feel no less safe with your BACK facing me," Sai said.

Naruto stopped in his walk, and then grabbed the edges of a garbage can. He itched to cram its contents down Sai's foul mouth. 'It would be garbage into a source of garbage.'

Sasuke was having second thoughts about this trip. His black eyes drilled into Sai's blank face. "Why are you intentionally being disagreeable? This is a mission."

"Because the two of you make the most hilarious expressions when aggravated." Sai began doodling on his sketchbook. "It's a good study on how to draw faces. Especially in cartoon-format."

Naruto looked ready to explode.

Sai did not heed him. His eyes were no more on his sketchbook, nor on his traveling partners. His attention traveled instead to an announcement board.

"Now _that,_" Sai muttered, "is the funniest depiction of you two I've ever seen." Pleased with confusing Naruto and Sasuke for a moment, Sai ripped off a flier from the town billboard, and showed it to the two chuunin. "Have you two any idea what this business is about?"

As the paper waved in front of his nose, Naruto's jaw dropped. "This... but... _we just left!_" Staring right back at him were the pictures of him and Sasuke. "Well, at least my head's worth 105,000 ryou. Sasuke's only at 100,000."

"You're making a competition out of wanted ads?" Sasuke asked, the corner of his mouth giving a slight twitch. As for the foreign voice at the back of his head, it was screaming like a child. **'Why is the Idiot beating us by 5,000? We are SO much higher in criminal potential!'**

Sai looked at his watch. "Only eighteen hours since you leave the village without permission, and you two already are on a _commoner's_ bounty list? That has to be a record of Konoha." He sneered at Naruto. "Yeah, you have a GREAT chance at being Hokage now. 'Kage' means that you're supposed to be hidden in the shadows, Genius."

The blond almost tore out his hair at Sai's apparent misunderstanding. "I've been framed, you moron!"

Immediately after saying this, Naruto felt a hand clap over his mouth.

"Shut up. You'll attract attention."

Naruto's blue eyes glared back towards Sasuke — only to find a younger version of Orochimaru, with slightly different hair and in Sasuke's clothes.

It was Naruto worst nightmare come true. Aside those of Hinata being tortured, and ramen being eradicated from the planet.

The blond immediately kicked the person in the shins, and then threw a kunai at him. There was a poof.

"Naruto, it's _me_!" Sasuke hissed through the smoke, turning back into his normal form. The thrown kunai was in his hand. "Use the Henge no Jutsu! Henge!"

It seemed that Sasuke had only tried a younger version of Orochimaru, because the old fart-slash-hag was the first image that had come to his mind when thinking of someone to transform into.

Sasuke wisely attempted to turn into someone else the second time around, someone Naruto would feel more comfortable with. He decided to blur his image into that of a man, which looked similar enough to Iruka, but with more slanted eyes, and without the facial scar and hitai-ate.

Sai followed Sasuke's example. His disguise was more simple: he used a genjutsu, so smoke was not even involved. His black eyes turned brown. As Sai loosened his raven-black hair from its tail, the strands turned into a rainbow.

His teammates stared at him. "What?" Sai asked. "Ugly has it worse with _her_ hair color."

"Dude, now you're just showing off," Naruto said. "Even gay guys don't dye it like that. They have better fashion sense than straight ones."

"The rainbow hair is intended to blend in with _your_ outfit," Sai retorted to Naruto. The elite ninja began to wrap up his sheathed katana with bandages, and placed it on his back horizontally, making it look as if were a package.

Naruto groaned. He was traveling with two freaks, he decided. Not only was Sai taking pleasure in making fun of everybody — and by that, _everybody_ was meant; even the locals they passed were not immune to his open comments — but Sasuke had given Naruto one of the largest scares ever with that "mini-Orochi" look. Was the Uchiha developing some sick sense of humor? The snake-sage had put Sasuke on his list for potential bodies to transfuse into, so it had been _somewhat_ funny, but not really...

The blond stilled. He carefully scrutinized the Sasuke-transformed-Iruka.

"What are you waiting for?" Sai asked. "Hurry up and perform the Henge no Jutsu, Dickless Wonder."

Naruto did not take his eyes off Sasuke. Said Uchiha was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

Naruto suddenly turned to Sai. "I'll show you the real meaning of 'Dickless Wonder'." His right hand made a Tiger-In. "Henge!"

Sai and Sasuke felt the explosion of chakra push the air against their faces. Both of them coughed. "Damn it, Naruto," Sasuke began to complain, "are you putting explosive-tags with that just to—"

The Uchiha could not make out the words 'show off', for his throat constricted as the smoke cleared. 'Oh. Hell. No.' Sasuke saw a rose-colored river. 'Naruto wouldn't.' Emeralds of eyes sparkled. 'He couldn't.' And skin, smooth and glossy as if bathed in dew. 'He didn't—'

Naruto would. He could. He did.

A real flesh-and-blood body appeared before Sasuke and Sai, exactly in the proportions of Haruno Sakura. Except that she looked like a glossy goddess. Clouds strategically hid the more critical corners of the body — which _of course_ made the image more enticing. Total nudity was not sexy, because it was just natural. Barely-clad, partial nudity was a whole different spin.

"Sasuke-kun, could you wash my back?" Her voice echoed with a pure, innocent hesitation. "_Pretty please?_"

Sasuke could not say anything. He could not even avert his eyes.

He felt something peculiar in his legs. The Uchiha realized that he had staggered back and fallen onto the ground in utter shock.

A look of relief crossed Sakura's face — which changed into that of Naruto with a poof. "Good, you really are Sasuke." Naruto waved sheepishly at the petrified ninja. "Sorry, sorry. For a moment there, I thought that Orochimaru had come and swapped you."

"That was... realistic," was all Sai could say.

Something hinting at a vein began to rise in the Uchiha's neck. "What the hell was that for?"

"Eh? I told you." Naruto crossed his arms. "I was worried that you might have been swapped with Orochi—"

"Not that." When the raven locks swept to the side as Sasuke's raised his head, his eyes were already red. His disguise wavered a bit, with the brown ponytail turning black again for a brief second. The stream of chakra for the Henge no Jutsu had been thinned momentarily to make way for the Sharingan. "Why did it have to be that... that _woman,_" he nearly spat out, "when you could have..."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Sasuke's pissed-off mode. "I figured that the Oiroke no Jutsu wouldn't work on you, unless the subject was Sakura-chan." He crouched down to Sasuke's sitting form, and looked carefully at the side of his face. Naruto pointed at the white nose. "See? One drop of blood."

"If Sakura finds out, she's going to kill you," the Uchiha told him. **'But man, that was kind of cool.'**

Sai chuckled at Sasuke. "So you're a bi?"

Sasuke pulled his hand across his face, smearing away the miniscule offense to his remaining pride. Wanting to change the subject, he asked what he thought was a perfectly reasonable question. "What the _hell_ is a bi?"

* * *

Breakfast was an odd event for Taketori Murashi and Natsumi that morning.

First, Tetsu was eating outside his room for the first time in three months, properly eating with his family and guest. Second, Tetsu had actually cooked. Hinata found out during conversation that the last time he cooked had been two years ago — and it had ended in disaster.

"You've told that story more than ten times, Kaa-san," Tetsu said, annoyed.

Natsumi laughed. "Oh, but Hinata hasn't heard it yet!"

Hinata's chopsticks touched her lower lip as she listened to the conversation. "Um... What exactly happened?"

The old woman ignored the scowl from the platinum blond. "Tetsu wanted to help me cook his favorite dish. Tempura."

With the word 'tempura', Hinata already had a bad feeling. Tempura was vegetable-and-shrimp fritters served with a fish broth. It was one of the most dangerous dishes to prepare, because the vegetable pieces and shrimp, after being slathered with batter, had to be dipped in boiling oil. It was not an uncommon accident for flecks of oil to suddenly jump out and hit the cook.

"I told him at first that it was too dangerous, but he insisted to help. Well, I didn't let him cook the tempura," — Natsumi failed to notice Hinata's expression of relief — "He just washed and cut the vegetables. But after I poured away the leftover oil on the stir-fry pan, he wanted to cool it down quickly for washing. Before, I had told him that cleaning up was just as important as preparing the food when in came to cooking, so..."

'That is a good habit to have.' Hinata picked up her cup of green tea, and sipped. 'Wait... he wanted to cool the stir-fry pan _quickly_?' She put down the teacup, her eyes wide open. "Did he possibly..."

"He poured cold water into it," Natsumi said. "While there was still a thin layer of hot oil on the pan. One of the main laws of chemistry: oil repels water."

"He got burned?" Hinata was horrified, thinking of how many heated drops of water could have flown into Tetsu's face. "He could have lost an eye!"

Something of a growl rumbled in Tetsu's throat. "I look FINE now, don't I?"

His mother smiled. "Tetsu was able to jump away as soon as he realized his mistake."

"Especially afterwards when those drops flew _half-way_ across the room to hit me," Tetsu mumbled.

Hinata blinked.

"Sorry, Tetsu, what did you say?" Natsumi asked.

"I said, except when my flops cost me half-way of the total journey."

Hinata raised an eyebrow. '_What?_' So Tetsu was not only quick at making fibs, but could compose them as poetry in an instant. Albeit, it was bit on the corny side.

Tetsu gave Hinata a warning look. "Don't tell me my words are bad poetry," he said, knowing his last phrase had been overdone. "Even the best poets are capable of making crap."

Hinata swallowed a piece of tofu from her miso soup. "I didn't say that, Tetsu-san," the blue-haired girl said evenly, although privately she admitted to having been tempted to laugh at Tetsu's revised sentence. Flops, indeed... "Not all word-combinations are bad."

"You'd be _surprised_," Tetsu intoned, "how and where bad poetry can spring. Even while describing a pond, a great poet can suck."

* * *

"I've examined it from side to side;

'tis three feet long and two feet wide." — William Wordsworth

* * *

"So you're interested in poetry?" Hinata asked.

Tetsu's facial expression stiffened in response. His blue eyes tore away from Hinata's gaze, and focused back on his rice bowl. "Not that much."

Hinata stayed silent, but there was a gleam in her pale eyes. 'He likes poetry!' Inside, she was twirling like a free dancer in a meadow. She was making progress in her acquaintance with Tetsu faster than she had originally presumed. He probably was not too keen on the idea that she knew already so much about him, but it was a start for her to get on his good side.

A faraway sound broke the silence of the table. It was from the outside: the repeated banging of a gong from the central temple of the village, with the yells.

"The touzoku are here!" a villager shouted in the nearby street. "The mountain bandits, they're—"

Murashi and Natsumi immediately got up from their seats, and took off to the front of the pharmacy.

Hinata ran after Natsumi. "Bandits again?" Hinata asked. She was slightly nervous at the possible number there could be this time. A village alarm was sounding. "Is there any village force to ward them off?"

"Well, our men deal with them." Natsumi pulled down the metal bars to cover the shop-window of the pharmacy, and turned the key. "But only once everybody has cleared the streets and shut their houses."

Meanwhile, her husband Murashi was locking the doors. He left the front gate open, as it was dangerous at his age to run out there when the robbers might pounce. But to prevent bandits from infiltrating the actual house, he pulled the metal sheets from the sides of any window- or door-opening. They originally were constructed to protect the house from the damaging storms called typhoons, but they also functioned somewhat as security.

Hinata helped out, awkwardly yanking and locking the metal protectors in position. Once the entire house was sealed, she slid down against the wall, a bit relieved.

The calm feeling did not last. Gut-wrenching screams reverberated through the house walls. The other villagers.

Hinata's eyes opened, revealing the Byakugan. One bandit sent a spear through a fleeing villager. Another mercilessly hacked and sliced away at new corpses.

Hinata wanted to vomit. Did ninja usually hide like cowards during such a situation?

The answer was, yes, if the situation warranted so. Like when the enemy was too strong, or too large in number. Hence the use of disguises. Whether one wrapped oneself into a gray cloth to act like a rock, or used a chakra-dependent Henge no Jutsu, it was to escape a difficult predicament.

But Hinata had been gifted with the Byakugan, and had trained as a ninja. Even if she did not particularly like fighting, was it not part of her duty as a person to use her gifts to help others?

Hinata stood up, and walked to the door. She felt herself tremble at each step. The veins thudded below her eyes. She opened the layers of doors, and closed each one shut behind her.

"Hinata?" she heard a confused Natsumi call from inside. "Where are you?"

Regret passed Hinata. 'Forgive me, Natsumi-obaasama.' The blue-haired kunoichi leaped onto the high wall that protected the Taketori pharmacy. With careful balance, she ran on the spine on the wall's roofing, and jumped off its corner.

She landed on the dirt ground with a grace that surprised even herself. Usually there was a bit more pain involved, especially when she was training. Maybe it was just the adrenaline rush.

Hinata did not invest too much time thinking about it. She ran towards the back a bandit, who stood over a villager's corpse. Without a second thought, she aimed a glowing palm at his back.

That moment, the robber turned. His eyes widened in surprise that an unarmed girl was running towards him. "What the—"

With his sudden movement, Hinata's palm missed the critical spot of the chest. He swung his machete at her. Hinata stepped back, avoiding the radius of the weapon, and thrust two fingers into his right arm.

This time, it had effect. The bandit's limb seized up, and the machete dropped from his trembling fingers. Hinata stepped to the side the confused man, and struck another pressure point, this time her thumb into his neck. The bandit collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

'Some more effort, since I missed on the first attempt,' Hinata thought, her heart racing for extra oxygen. 'This is what Otou-sama meant when aiming directly for the heart. It drains your energy if they keep coming to you alive.'

Her Byakugan detected a thin object from behind to her right. Hinata pulled out a kunai with her thumb, gripped it with chakra, and threw the item over her shoulder. A clang was heard: a sharp knife, along with her kunai losing the blue glow of her chakra, clattered to the ground.

Hinata turned her white eyes onto the source. It was a bandit, who was now readying a crossbow in her direction.

The kunoichi forcefully threw a golfball-sized sphere onto the ground. A burst of smoke erupted around her feet, and concealed her body.

'A ninja?' The outlaw aimed his crossbow at Hinata's silhouette within the smoke. 'Even if you use a kemuri-dama to hide yourself, I can still aim!'

He unleashed the arrow, his target being the girl's shadow. A sharp sound of impact was heard.

The bandit lowered his crossbow. He was confused at the sound; it had rung like metal on wood. Usually an arrow meeting flesh did not make such a high pitch.

His eyes grew wide when he saw his arrow pinning only a cardigan to the wooden wall.

'Utsusemi no Jutsu.' (Technique of the Empty Cicada)

Hinata appeared behind the robber. She had realized that in order to stretch out the usage of the Gentle Fist, she had to conserve chakra as much as possible. So instead of making a Bunshin, which would drain her reserves somewhat, she had thrown down a smoke-bomb, and left her cardigan as her double at the moment she heard the crossbow made the final click before the releasing snap.

Fingers laced with chakra, she stabbed the pressure point in his neck. The man's eyes diluted, and he staggered.

A gasp came from Hinata when he whipped out a kodachi, a short sword, and aimed towards her face. The crossbow discarded, he performed several slashes with the weapon, making Hinata step quickly away from each move.

Embarrassingly, Hinata found herself let off a small shriek every time the outlaw's arm blurred with the glistening kodachi. But she could not help it. The weapon was still wet and guilty with blood, and that made her more afraid. The veins on her cheeks began to recede.

The girl felt something flat hit her from behind. 'A _wall_?' Her inner self panicked. 'What kind of Hyuuga runs into a WALL?'

The bandit smirked. He raised the kodachi above his shoulder. "Die, bitch."

The next moment, Hinata felt as if time froze. It sure seemed like it, when the bandit did not move from his position.

"You have to aim to kill."

A teenager, wearing a pure-white pharmaceutical coat, stepped out of the bandit's shadow. While the robber had been busy trying to cut open Hinata's throat, Tetsu had snuck up from behind him.

Now the platinum blond was touching the side of the bandit's neck with his index finger, and holding it there. Hinata's pale eyes grew wide. Tetsu was using some sort of pressure-point technique, obviously. But why was the bandit only standing, frozen in movement? With the Jyuuken and similar acupuncture thrusts, the effects would be instantaneous. The bandit should have fallen already.

After ten seconds, Tetsu withdrew physical contact from the bandit. At the moment his finger left the other's skin, the outlaw sprawled to the ground. There, he lay very still.

"He's dead," Tetsu told Hinata as he passed her. "I pushed ki into the pressure-point closest to the spinal cord, and caused it to stop reception with the rest of the brain."

The explanation sunk into her as he walked away.

Hinata whipped her head around, disbelief in her face. "Th-that's impossible!" she exclaimed, a tremor in her voice. "Normal chakra doesn't have the strength to make a whole nervous system... just_ stop_..."

Tetsu looked back at her. "Damn right. With normal ki, it doesn't work." The calmness in his voice was terrifying. "You seem to know your own art of offensive acupuncture. Take it to its potential."

Ugly shouting and smoke came from her left. Hinata decided to ignore Tetsu, and do her own work. His calmness during a raid, even subtle amusement, somehow irked the Priestess. But being upset would only distract her.

Her world again turned black-and-white. It was too late, however: the group of bandits who laid that part of town waste, had spotted her and Tetsu when they were speaking, and now were circling her. Even before the smoke cleared, Hinata knew that she was surrounded.

"If you know what's good for you, please leave this village," Hinata said in a clear and authoritative voice.

She was met with roaring laughter.

One of the robbers took a cigarette out of his mouth, and crushed it under his feet. He raised his hand, and the laughter died down somewhat. "Now men, let's not be too harsh on her." He walked towards the blue-haired girl. "It seems she has ideals of her own. That is something admirable. And she's the first woman we've found in this place."

Hinata allowed him to come closer. He came near enough to reach for her face.

"Poor thing." A hint of sympathy was in the man's voice as he tilted her head up. "Were you abused to get those scars?"

'He thinks the veins are scars,' Hinata thought. She bit her lip.

"Please, please forgive me!" she shouted out.

The next second, the man choked in surprise as the petite girl made a powerful blow into his chest. With it came a tight sensation in his ribcage, almost as if it were a heart attack. The robber's back hit the ground.

Hinata did not have time to hit another point that would allow him to lose his consciousness, and thus die with little pain — his comrades launched themselves on her. "Little BRAT!"

Hinata's sandal drew a circle on the ground. She readied her body into the Jyuuken position. "Hakke Kaiten," she whispered.

Her form blurred, and a semi-sphere of blue aura enveloped her. The whirling energy roughly pushed the front line of bandits against their comrades.

The robbers were surprised, but undeterred. One of them threw a heavy sword that looked like a giant kitchen knife towards the girl's bubble of chakra. It took extra effort on Hinata's part to deflect that object, but she managed to hit it away, along with the mess of other weapons swinging towards her.

Hinata had to stop sometime, however. Just when she saw that the outlaws were temporarily backing off, she used her heel to gently slide to a halt. As a cloud of dust trailed upward, the girl panted for air. Unconscious robbers and thrown weapons made a circle around her in the ground. 'I can't do the Kaiten forever. I have to go on the offensive — oh, but I HATE this!'

The next moment, Hinata plowed through the bandits, mostly tripping them with lower kicks, and disabling their arms. Some of them ran: losing the feeling and usage of an arm was frightening to anybody, more so with thieves in the midst of a raid. Others proved difficulty to Hinata, especially those using items like halberds and arrows, both long-distance weapons. Although her doujutsu helped immensely when it came to dodging attacks, letting one weapon by could prove fatal.

When she was finished, she felt something odd. Almost supernatural. She advanced her vision to the Sight, making the irises glow white and the veins disappear.

Something of an eerie gray aura wafted from the eastern part of the village. The kunoichi took off, seeing that most of the streets were empty of any robbers.

After several corners, Hinata's heart almost stopped.

Mountain bandits were absent. At least, living ones. But the scene before her was more gut-wrenching than the pile of dead bandits she saw to the side.

"We TOLD you never to show your face in public again!"

Several villagers — Hinata guessed they were in their early twenties — were ganging up around a lanky young man. Hinata looked more closely, and she saw that it was Tetsu who had his back on the fence. His pharmaceutical white shirt was now a dirty gray, and torn in various places.

One of the villagers pointed at the number of corpses. "You killed all those guys, didn't you?"

"Yes, and saved YOUR sorry asses," Tetsu said, his arms crossed.

"We could have handled them on our own!"

The third villager looked angry and scared at the same time. "He's too fast for a normal human."

Hinata watched, horrified, as he landed a fist in Tetsu's stomach. A look of pain flashed across the platinum blond's face. The next moment, a fist on the shoulder — Tetsu fell to the ground. He was not fighting back in the slightest.

Her white eyes then caught something: a gray aura was leaking out of Tetsu's body. Hinata stilled. Was Tetsu a —

"MONSTER!"

"Mass murderer!" another villager shouted. "Shut yourself up in the house like you always did; we don't want you outside!"

When they began kicking Tetsu all around, Hinata could not take it anymore. Why was he not trying to dodge or protect himself?

"STOP IT!"

The choked-up shriek made Tetsu's neighbors pause. They looked up, and saw the new assistant of the Taketori pharmacy, watching them, shaking in the legs — and crying.

"Hinata-san?" The men looked uncomfortable. "What are you doing outside?"

The tear-stained girl began walking towards them.

"Hinata-san, don't come near him!" another villager pleaded. "You may live at the pharmacy, but you don't know the truth about Tetsu! He's unstable... when..." He hesitated.

Hinata's Sight then detected something from behind. She turned around. Only a tree in someone's backyard. But there was something coming out of its trunk...

The next thing she felt was a huge wave of black chakra. Hell, it was practically an explosion.

Before she could go into position and make another Kaiten, the holy jewel at her throat — the Yasanagi no Magatama — produced a white shield around her for just a moment.

A split-second later, the surrounding black miasma evaporated.

Hinata's barrier disappeared. The Priestess felt her knees hit the ground. The Magatama was already cold against her skin. If a second explosion came within twenty-four hours, Hinata realized, she would have little to no protection.

Several seconds ticked by.

Hinata swallowed down her fear, and looked at the tree. If there was not a second wave of destructive ki by now, whatever inside it probably had a bone to pick with her.

Hinata walked towards the tree, and glared at it. "What do you _want_?" she demanded.

Laughter met her again. But this time, it had a touch of an echo, an ethereal vibration. A knot in the tree began to twist and gnarl, and a humanoid form slithered out of it and onto the ground like thick sap.

Finally, a person came out. He had a twisted cord around his head. His simple, sleeveless kimono and shorts indicated he was a carpenter or smith.

The man's laughter died down. "You're definitely the Priestess of Souls. The Magatama reacts instantly whenever you're in extreme danger." He smirked at the current dullness of the bead at Hinata's neck, which the girl tried to conceal with a fist. "But you can't control it very well. It drains out too quickly. I could raise my hand against you now, and win without a fight."

'Stay calm!' Hinata ordered herself. "Did you... You were the one who controlled those mountain bandits to attack this village, weren't you?"

The man scratched his head. "Control? You mean, get them possessed by the souls of hungry, vengeful ghosts?" He made a disgusted look. "No, not my style. Those bandits decided on their own to raid this godforsaken village. Typically human."

Hinata was not all that convinced.

"Really, think about it," the carpenter said. "I only arrived after the bandits left. If I had been around, you would have felt my ki absolutely stink up the place. Like how you feel now."

The Priestess realized that he was correct. He reeked of dark, foul chakra. With the way her skin thrummed against the energy, she would not even need her Sight to notice this being's presence.

"However, I _did_ do that," the carpenter said, pointed at Hinata — or rather, what was behind Hinata.

The Priestess turned. Tetsu, as well as the three villagers, lay scattered on the ground. Paired with them were sooty outlines of their bodies on the fence, remaining from the chakra explosion.

Hinata turned to the man, shaking. Whether it was from fear of anger, she did not know. "You killed them," she stated, frightening herself with her cool and collected voice. "...Why?"

"To see how powerful you were with the Magatama." The carpenter folded his hands behind his head. "Those guys were casualties. Although, good riddance too." He paused: the Priestess was becoming furious. "Wait, wait. Not all of them are dead."

Hinata glanced to the side. To her amazement, Tetsu was conscious. He was even trying to standing up, albeit he struggled.

Tetsu used the fence for his support. He almost slipped once, but he grabbed onto the wood, splinters painfully digging into his palms. "Begone," he hissed at the carpenter.

"You don't even know me," the carpenter pointed out. "Why are you ordering me around?"

"Leave!" Tetsu snarled. "I despise you. I hate the look on your face. I especially _loathe_ how you speak so casually with that woman—"

Tetsu put a hand to his head, as if suddenly experiencing a migraine. Hinata ran up to him, and held him for support. He did not give any indication of thanks. All he did towards her was grip onto her sleeve, and hook his chin over her shoulder.

"I _know_ you from somewhere," Tetsu breathed at the man. "You... you're called Matsumitsu!" A look of pain crossed his face again, as if something was stabbing his head.

The carpenter performed a slow mock-applause. Three sarcastic claps. "Congratulations, you figured out my name." Matsumitsu lifted his hands and shoulders. "I guess it can't be helped, though. That's all you can recollect." He began to disappear. "Both of you... are incomplete."

With those words, the carpenter shrunk into a dot. A ribbon of wood shaving dropped from where he disappeared.

Hinata stared at Tetsu. He looked beat up, and tired. But he had survived that large explosion of dark energy, without the protection of the Magatama. And he still had gray chakra leaking out of his body, although now faint.

"Tetsu-sama?" Hinata caught his weary eyes. They looked so much like those of a depressed Naruto. "Who are you?"

The platinum blond groaned in the sleeve of Hinata's shirt. "Who knows?"

* * *

Notes:

The couplet from William Wordsworth was taken from _The Book of Heroic Failures_ by Stephen Pile.

"Oiroke no Jutsu" - also known as the 'Sexy no Jutsu' or 'Sexy Technique'!

"Utsusemi no Jutsu" - means 'Technique of the Empty Cicada'. This I took from the series "Flame of Recca", when Recca uses it in his fight against Kage Houshi (whose seiyuu is also Mitsuishi Kotono, strangely enough).

"Sesshou-seki" - Many thanks to **Jester12** for informing me about the legend of the sesshou-seki, and planting the idea into this story!

x

I'm sorry to inform the readers this now, but I will be offline for two and a half months. I will be working at Zion National Park in Utah. With what free-time I have, I probably will be spending it with my best friend, whom I haven't seen in five years. My laptop won't have Internet connection in the dorms. (But it sure will make a good DVD player.) If there's a big fight between us, and if I'm bored enough, I might type something down... But nothing much will come during the summer!

If you want to cry or complain or give new potential ideas, use the review- or PM-systems.

x

(By the way, do most of the readers for "Beyond Hearts and Minds" know that it has an already-complete prequel called "Dimensional Exchanges"? I just wanted to make sure. One doesn't have to read it to understand this story, actually, so don't read it if you don't feel like it. It might even spoil things for "Beyond Hearts and Minds".)

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	41. Rumors and Letters

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ by Douglas Adams. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

I'm back. I had a great time in Zion National Park! Many interesting things happened, most of which included my best friend, now currently my boyfriend.

:cough: Enough with the meaningless chitchat. You're here for the new chapter, right?

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 41: Rumors and Letters

* * *

Hinata screwed on the cap of a medicine bottle, sealing it tight. She carried it to the front desk, and handed it to the customer.

The customer leaned over the counter. "Hinata-san," he said in a hush, "is it true what they say about Tetsu?"

"Tetsu-sama did _not_ kill any villagers." A rare crinkle was on Hinata's usually smooth forehead. "I witnessed him taking out bandits, but never villagers."

"Wait, wait." The villager looked at Hinata with a cocked eyebrow. "You witnessed?"

Hinata nodded.

"Um... Okay." It was obvious that he did not believe her. After all, women in the village were a rarity, and thus they were kept shut in the houses like treasure whenever a band of robbers decided to sack the place. The villager took his medicine, and left the pharmacy without another word.

"Thank you for your patronage," Hinata called, following orders from management. Something in her wanted to jab a Jyuuken thrust at the customer — not _into_ him, of course; just past his ear, enough to give him a _tiny_ scare — to show that she was not just some cooped-up princess with no ability to defend herself.

Hinata sighed. Cooped-up princess. That was what many in Konoha had thought about her, too, now that she looked back on it. Even Naruto. Sure, he had been probably her loudest cheerleader. But ever since he became her boyfriend, he seemed to be always telling her in missions to 'stay back' or 'don't overdo it'. Hinata knew it was because he was worried for her...

'But did he have to say something every ten minutes?' complained Hinata inside. It had gotten so repetitive that she had to ask the Hokage to give him a talk. Eventually, Tsunade had rearranged teams so that Naruto and Hinata were put together less often on double-team missions.

Hinata spent the next half hour reading a scroll, before she saw Natsumi hobble past. The old woman was closing up the pharmacy for the day. The Priestess stood up, and noticed that somebody was already shutting the front gate. There was a glint of silver, and Hinata recognized him as Tetsu.

"Tetsu is walking outside?" The words flew out of Hinata's mouth before she remembered that Natsumi was still in front of her. Hinata colored. 'My big mouth.'

"Well, it has been a while since Tetsu decided to walk out of the house on his own." Natsumi smiled weakly. "I was beginning to think he had agoraphobia. Although, today he only went up to the front gate."

'Huh?" Personally, Hinata did not think a fear of crowds was possible if Tetsu had been raised all his life in this village, as it had barely a population to constitute a herd. Tetsu probably just hated being near people — which Hinata would not blame him of, seeing how poorly he was treated yesterday.

Tetsu passed Hinata. "Don't give me that pitying look. It makes you look pathetic."

"Tetsu!" Natsumi scolded her son — only to have the door slid shut in front of her and Hinata. She gave a worried look at Hinata, as if preparing to apologize.

"It's all right, Obaa-sama." Hinata reopened the door. Tetsu was gone. It looked like he had already fled to his room.

"That boy." Natsumi rubbed her left shoulder, as if a muscle were tied in a knot there. "We haven't had many guests in the main house. He doesn't know how to be polite to people, except to my husband and me."

Hinata smiled weakly, and followed Natsumi to the kitchen. "That time, I think Tetsu-sama was seeking attention."

Natsumi blinked. "Eh?"

"Well, whenever he was rude to me, it would be because I spoke too much in stutters, or because I entered his room to deliver something. Otherwise he'd be silent." Hinata felt odd as she continued to speak, as if a guilty pleasure was overwhelming her. "But today, I was just watching him while he shut the front gate."

"Why, that's true..." The old pharmacist swept into the kitchen, and began to take out the pots. "He must be getting _fond_ of you, if he's seeking a reaction out of you! Here, Hinata, the usual amount of rice." The old woman handed Hinata the metal bowl, and then started to clean the fresh produce that her husband had just brought from market. For a while, Natsumi hummed contentedly to herself, as if she were remembering her days of youth. "Oh, but if Tetsu really wants your affection," Natsumi's expression turning sour, "he shouldn't be so childish! I'll tell him—"

"Obaa-sama, PLEASE!" Hinata blushed to the roots of her hair. "I have no intentions towards Tetsu-sama like that. He'd be too much for me." She looked back down at the rice container, and scooped some of the dry grains into her bowl. "Besides, I have someone precious waiting for me at home."

Natsumi's face turned blank. "Oh. I see." She began cutting chicken meat for a stir-fry. "So, this person — what is he like?"

Hinata smiled. How many words could describe Naruto? "Well, in terms of looks, he looks a bit like Tetsu-sama. But his personality is completely different. He's loud, cheerful, unpredictable... A bit overprotective... Kind. Clumsy at times, but sweet, and he can be very dependable when times are rough."

Natsumi stared at Hinata. "Then what are you doing here, Hinata?"

The Priestess thought a bit. "I think I need a little time away from home," said Hinata. "I will explain everything to him when I go back."

There was a pause between the two as they continued to work. The blue-haired girl felt a bit awkward in the silence.

"I hope the rumors are false," Natsumi finally said, "that foreign men are more fleeting with their women."

Hinata's lavender eyes blinked at this statement. She suddenly felt cold. Hinata always knew of the slight possibility of Naruto being unfaithful. Naruto was only human, after all. But it was the first time she had given it thought, during her stay in the Stone Country.

Hinata squeezed the rice as she washed it, and if a seed of doubt were among the wet grains she held. 'Don't think about it!' her inner voice shouted.

...But who said that she and Naruto were still together, if she was in the Stone Country without telling him? He might even think her dead. The two of them really did not discuss what would happen to their relationship, should one of them go missing.

The next time Hinata spoke to Natsumi, it was to say goodnight to her.

* * *

"Why are we here?" Naruto asked, sweating.

"This is what is called a 'seedy' place," answered the ANBU-member. "Just walk casually up to a person sitting at the bar who looks drunk, depressed, or both, and get info."

"Bar-hopping for information, I understand." A vein twitched on Naruto's forehead. "But why a _strip joint_?"

Sai rolled his eyes, his back turned to the barely-clad women on stage. "You don't have to watch the show. It's best if you didn't; distraction. Our targets are men who look like they've been around." He leaned near Naruto's ear, and added in a whisper, "Although, you could go behind stage disguised as a girl, and get information from the strippers."

"No thanks." Naruto did his utmost to steer his eyes away from the stage, and searched for their third teammate.

A head of unruly black hair showed itself in the crowd. Naruto's jaw slightly dropped. Sasuke looked neither excited nor nervous. Rather, he seemed bored with the on-stage dancers in string bikinis. Sasuke just headed towards the bar, sat down, and ordered a shot of sake.

"Don't tell me he has _experience_!" Naruto hissed next to Sai.

"Many men, young and old, are fond of these areas. Don't be surprised if our peers frequent these places, ninja mission or no." Sai swallowed a pill, and gulped it down with a glass of water. "Or is it, Naruto, that you're scared of losing your title as King of Perversion in Konoha?"

"That's for Jiraiya or Kakashi," Naruto retorted, insulted that Sai would even consider him for such a title. Still, it gave Naruto the shivers. What kind of stoic was Sasuke, if he was unaffected at all on his first trip to a place like this?

That was not the only thing that made Naruto nervous at heart. He thought of how Hinata might react if she knew he was here. She might want to perform the Hakke Rokujyuuyonshou on him. And not for a practice spar, either. Or worse: she might cry. Naruto could just imagine it — with eyes brimming with tears, she would ask whether she was not sexy enough ("I can get implants, or practice at a strip joint, Naruto-kun, just please...), or not cute enough ("Should I wear cat ears?"), etc. etc...

Naruto shook his head. He could not think about that right now. First was the mission to find Sakura and Hinata. Although they only had information regarding one at the moment, they could investigate the whereabouts of both while they travelled.

Before Naruto realized it, Sai had already made 'friends' with another guest at the bar. Sai gestured to Naruto to join. As soon as Naruto sat down, he heard a light clunk. He looked down: his first drink. That was fast. The ceramic cup looked drab, and cheap.

"I know, I know." Sai set a beer bottle in front of Naruto. "Just wash it down with this."

"_What?_" From what the blond remembered of Jiraiya's lessons, the three taboos of shinobi were money, women, and alcohol. Naruto watched in horror as Sai downed his own sake, and then made a bottoms-up with the beer bottle. "You're going to lose your judgment skills!" Naruto whispered.

"Don't you get it?" Sai leaned closer to Naruto's ear. "You put the sake in your mouth, and then spit it out into this empty bottle. That way you don't have to swallow the shit."

The vessel of the Kyuubi stared long at the ANBU-member. "You're a friggin' genius."

Sai gave a smile that gleamed out, 'I know.' Sai turned back to the man who was paying for the alcohol. "So, have you ever seen these girls?" He held up photos of Hinata and Sakura.

The man's cheeks flushed darker as he took a third drink. "Well, they are cute," he observed. He then studied Sai's hair. There was a small rainbow braid amidst the dark tresses. "What do _you_ want them for, anyway?"

Sai mentally sighed. So the man thought he was gay because of his hairstyle. During the trip, Sai kept on adjusting his looks, one hairstyle slightly different than the next. It's main purpose was to set off any Konoha-nin that might have been tracking them. Its second purpose was to embarrass Naruto and Sasuke. A strip bar, however, whose clientele was made up of largely male heterosexuals, probably was not amused.

"They're missing friends of ours," Naruto said, butting into the conversation. The drunken man gave him a few clueless blinks. 'TALK, you asshole!' Naruto's thoughts raged.

"Friends of a _certain_ establishment." Sai tilted his head towards the dancers.

A leer twisted on the man's face. "Oooh, I get it." He looked closely at the pictures. "I'd pay good money to see them on stage. Let's see..." He was oblivious to the veins emerging in Naruto's fists. "Nope. Haven't seen them."

"What a shame." Sai took another mouthful of sake, and used the beer bottle to dispose of it.

"Indeed, what a shame." The man flipped through the other pictures. "Although, it's a bit odd. I've seen a face almost like that pink-head."

Naruto stilled. "You have?"

"Well, it was a guy actually," — the two ninja privately slumped in disappointment — "but his face was like that pink-head's. Only his hair was brown. It might have been her brother." He took another sip of alcohol. "He passed by here, 'bout two weeks ago."

Naruto frowned. Sakura had no siblings. "Do you know where this person went?" Naruto asked.

The man scratched his head. "Well... Due east..."

Naruto blinked. His senses were blurring. Kyuubi. In his head, the man's speech turned into ocean waves. The ocean was cut through by one small whip of air. Naruto's fox eyes moved by themselves. The focused on Sasuke, who hunched over the bar's counter with a cup of orange-colored liquor in his hand.

Naruto opened his mouth to say something — before he could figure out some appropriate warning, Sasuke already moved.

Sasuke whipped around in his seat, a kunai in his hand and his eyes the color of blood. The incoming glint bounced off his weapon, and flew spinning towards Naruto. The blond shinobi tilted his head, letting the item only whiz by his cheek.

Naruto heard a slight hiss of pain behind him. He turned around, and his blue eyes trailed onto the bartender. A senbon-needle was stuck deep in his neck. "Sir—"

The man slumped unconscious between Naruto and Sai. His head hit the beer bottle, pushing it over the counter.

Sai yanked out the weapon from the bartender's neck. "Run," he whispered to Naruto.

The bottle shattered on the floor. The breakage of glass pulled some spectator's attention away from the stage. Only a few drunkards were there at the bar. But the bartender was slumped over the counter, unconscious.

A second wave of gasps traveled the next second: a man in their midst, who stood just fine a moment ago while watching the dancers, collapsed. With a kunai deep in his forehead.

Already before the screaming began, Sai, Sasuke and Naruto fled like the wind into the streets. Although Sai's face was blank, something in his voice gave away that he was angry. "The last thing we need, Traitor, is a trail of dead bodies leading to us."

"He started it," Sasuke retorted. The three trailed into a narrow alleyway to hide from any would-be pursuers.

"Returning a kunai — after a senbon — missed you?" Naruto panted between his words. "_Overkill_."

"Instinct."

"Whatever." Naruto fumed. "Anyway, why were you attacked? Did you do anything stupid there?"

"Nothing!" Sasuke leaned against the wall, gradually slowing down his breathing. A cat on a dumpster mewed behind him. The animal hissed as Sasuke's appearance changed back into that of a seventeen-year-old. "I just sat there."

"There's only one explanation," said Sai. "That person was from the Hidden Sound." Sai twirled the bloody senbon around his index finger. "See the tiny hook at one point? It's a sign that it was forged in Otogakure. Makes it more damaging to pull it out. And..."

Sai took out what looked like a small note pad. He ran the needle's clean point on its surface, and flashed a tiny blue light on the resulting mark. A yellow color bled around the cut. The ANBU-member glanced at the chart on the pad's back. "Sleeping potion," Sai identified. "The bartender should be fine. As long as it didn't hit a nerve."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke. "I still think it was too much, erasing that other ninja. Even if he was an Oto-nin. He was obviously still a rookie, if he tried that against you in a crowded strip joint."

"What's done is done," Sai said. "If Sasuke left him alive, we might have the Sound on our trail as well." He shot the Uchiha a blank look. "But we _still_ don't know how that Oto-nin recognized you while you were in a perfect Henge."

Sasuke glared at him. "Are you accusing me of something?"

"Maybe I am," Sai answered, "Traitor."

There was a moment of high tension between them. The ANBU-wannabe versus the ANBU-member. To Naruto, it looked like a staring contest, as neither put in the effort to make a real glare.

"Um, guys," the blond interrupted after a while, "I think I know what it might be."

Sai realized that Naruto had his eyes glued to Sasuke's back. "After studying his rear so intently, you notice something?"

"No, you idiot." Naruto's voice was even, and he looked pale in the face. He pointed at the back of Sasuke's neck. "That."

For a moment, Sasuke did not understand. Then his eyes froze, stiff and black as pitch. He gingerly wrapped his hand around the skin. It felt warm with dark chakra.

Sai calmly observed the three pulsing dots on the Uchiha's neck. He closed his eyes. This was serious, he realized. "Shit," he breathed. "We're going to need makeup."

* * *

Sakura was folding up her map, when a shudder ran through her skin. The evil sensation was getting closer. And from behind, she could swear that a different pulse had come from the horizon.

A vision of a pissed-off Sasuke letting off steam by pounding Naruto into the ground swept through Sakura's thoughts. The pink-haired kunoichi halted in her walking — a moment's pause — and then continued. "No way," Sakura murmured.

The blond elf and the purple-haired demon witnessed Sakura talking to herself. They looked at each other.

Potamos frowned. "Is Sacchan okay?"

"She is perfectly all right." Minoru drew an arrow out of his quiver. "Her aura senses are sharpening, that is all. Just observe."

Sakura halted in her steps again. A dark look crossed her eyes. Putting chakra through her right leg, she dug a heel into the soil. A fissure resulted. She jumped away, avoiding the snake-like creature that burst from the crack. She grasped the hilt of her katana.

After a split-second, a line of black blood spurted from the monster's neck. It's grotesque, pseudo-human face roared at Sakura. Her green eyes turned wide with panic. 'Shit, I didn't decapitate it at first shot!'

An arrow tinged with yellow light streaked past Sakura's shoulder, and hit the single eye of the monster. Its long tail writhed violently, before crumbling into dust and bones.

Sakura leapt away from the clattering mass. She massaged her right shoulder as she walked back to her companions. "Thank you, Minoru-san. You're saving my tail everywhere."

"Enjoy it while I still do, Sakura-san." The blond elf refrained from telling her that he had sensed the creature thirty seconds earlier than she did. Minoru just wanted to test how far her skills went.

"So are we there yet?" Potamos asked.

"We still have three days of walking," Minoru said. Inside, he wanted to hit the girl for asking that question for probably the fifth time today. The water-demon had a way of dancing on people's nerves, even to a point that an elf like him felt inclined towards unnecessary violence. "And once we arrive, we cannot enter it suddenly."

"Why?" Sakura asked. "Is there some sort of army guarding the Priestess?"

"In a certain respect." Minoru put a comforting hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Remember, we will not ask you to kill humans, unless you see no way out. We will entrust you to be an integral part of the rescue mission, Sakura."

Sakura felt her face glow for a second. She moved a bit away from Minoru. "Oh... I guess — I'll do my best." Inside, she felt pride bubble inside her. 'Minoru-san wants me to do something important! Yeay!'

Minoru gave a sad smile as the pink-haired girl went up to their other traveling companion, and began chatting. They were just like two schoolgirls. The only exception was that they chattered about techniques and monsters, not boys. 'She has no idea what horror she will step into,' the blond elf thought with resignation. 'But it will make her stronger.'

* * *

Hinata rolled to her side in the futon. Her eyes cracked open slightly. It was still before dawn.

She yawned, stretching her arms out of the covers. A chill traveled to her arms: the air was freezing. She immediately huddled into a ball.

"Are you cold?"

Hinata's eyes snapped open at the voice. She felt a warm, solid body against her back. She turned her head. "Te-Tetsu-sama?" she squeaked. "You — my bed —"

Tetsu gave a mischevious grin. He rested a hand in the space between her arm and her chest, as if caging her with his arm. His handsome face neared hers. "What am I doing, you ask?" His forehead touched hers. "This."

Hinata was so stunned that she could not move. 'Well, he looks a lot like Naruto-kun...' a rebellious voice echoed in Hinata's thoughts.

"Wait a moment," the blue-haired girl rasped out. She did not see his face anymore; his platinum blond hair was nuzzling her chin. She felt a soft, wet touch on her throat. "Wait..." Naruto was the only one who knew how sensitive she was there. Her body was not listening to her mind's protests; she had not felt caresses like this in over a month.

"Tetsu — stop —"

* * *

Hinata opened her pale, lavender eyes with a start. She was in her futon. She sat up, and looked around the small guest room. Her eyes traveled back to her bed. The blanket was in firm symmetry with the bed; there was no sign of extraneous movement like tousling or pulling.

Hinata let off a sigh of relief. It had only been a dream. Yet a strange, intense dream. Hinata put the blame on hormones. She dearly missed Naruto, but Tetsu just so happened to look similar to him, and happened to sleep only several rooms away.

Her moral side drew the line there. 'Bad, bad Hinata! Don't give into temptation! Besides, Naruto-kun is so much nicer...'

Although, she had to admit: Tetsu was a lot more intriguing than Naruto. Sure, he was a jerk at times — more so that Uchiha Sasuke, and that said something. But Tetsu was now and then nice to Hinata. He also wrote poetry. Not to mention, that strange aura that protected him in that confrontation with the youkai. 'Now I understand what Sakura-san had felt towards Uchiha-san,' Hinata thought. 'It's the mystery surrounding the person.'

Hinata thought it over. 'But still, I prefer being with someone stable and sweet, like Naruto-kun, rather than someone who's unpredictable. I feel _safe_ around Naruto-kun. I never completely feel that way around Tetsu.'

Indeed, ever since that bandit-raid, Hinata had always been wary of what Tetsu's abilities actually were. Were they good or evil? Knowing how to discharge ki was extraordinary enough, as nobody else in the village knew how to do it. And to have it colored gray...

Hinata's pale eyes opened. 'It's my turn to rake the garden again.' She crawled out of bed, and began walking through the hallway.

At a corner, she halted. A head of platinum-blond hair glowed in the dark hallway.

"This running into each other has to stop," Tetsu said. He gave Hinata a weird look, as if examining her. "I knew women had lumps, but yours are rounder than Kaa-san's."

"Eh?" The blue-haired girl looked down at herself. Her yukata was so loose than not only were both her shoulders exposed, but also the top halves of her breasts.

With an "eep", Hinata pulled the cloth straight. With the last of the sleepiness banished, and her posture rigid, she walked away from Tetsu with dignity. 'Hyuuga are trained to look classy and sophisticated, no matter what the situation,' Hinata chanted to herself. 'It's just like Hanabi said: you can fake your way out of embarrassment by acting like you don't care.'

"Oh, by the way," said Tetsu. He saw Hinata stop, and turn her head to listen. "Have my parents discussed with you about how you're getting home?"

Hinata felt her index fingers touch, out of habit. "No. They haven't."

A flash of something like pity passed Tetsu's blue eyes. "You don't know at all, do you? How you could get home."

Hinata looked at him. "No, I don't," she said, suddenly defiant. The kunoichi was getting sick of Tetsu's attitude. "I will find a way home, somehow."

A weak smile cracked from Tetsu. "Look, you're even showing your anger."

It was just one movement. But as caring or soft Tetsu might have intended it, Hinata was too shocked to fully register it in her brain: the normally frigid, grumpy Tetsu was holding her.

Hinata blushed as the Naruto-look-alike embraced her. "Te-Tetsu-sama?"

"You could stay here," Tetsu murmured in her dark hair. "This village is too far from any other. And even if you make it to another, you would have difficulty surviving. Other men will seek you, especially for your eyes."

Hinata could not find herself to move. "You know about my eyes?"

"I had wondered why you knew the pressure points so accurately." Tetsu could feel Hinata shaking. He stroked her shoulder, just how he saw his father do to his mother whenever she was stressed. The boy felt like he was a fool trying to do a king's job; Hinata looked like she would break any moment, no matter how gentle his touch was. "Long ago, I heard stories that people with such abilities are often slaughtered by mysterious assassins."

Hinata gulped. She knew what Tetsu was speaking of. "I am willing to take that risk." She gently withdrew from his arms. "Tetsu-sama, thank you. But I will eventually have to leave this village sometime."

Tetsu swallowed. "I see." He folded his arms tight to his chest, as if cold.

A stab of guilt went through Hinata. Tetsu's posture was that of an abandoned child. She folded her hands together, and looked down. "Tetsu-sama, you don't have to feel so disappointed. I've only been here a month; I'll definitely need more time here to complete my medicinal training."

"...I hate you." The coldness in Tetsu's voice had come back.

Hinata turned, and walked toward the garden. "I know," she said. She did not see the tear fall down Tetsu's cheek.

When the Priestess stepped onto the heap of pebbles known as the Taketori rock garden, she felt something. Hinata turned around. Tetsu was all of a sudden there, with an angry look on his face. "I _hate_ you!"

Tetsu threw a fist at Hinata. It was alight with ghost-like ki. Hinata let out a surprised cry as she took the hit — she was able to move in time so that the impact was only on her shoulder, but the force caused her to fall onto the hard bed of rocks.

'Byakugan!' Hinata automatically turned on her bloodline limit. As Tetsu already knew about the technique, Hinata did not have to be discrete anymore about it. And she wanted to investigate why Tetsu acted up — it could have just been his normal selfishness, but she was not sure.

"SCUM!" he shouted at Hinata, leaping after her. She rolled out of the way, evading Tetsu's thrust. She painfully took the spray of pebbles that littered her back the next moment; it was more important getting Tetsu back under control. "Cockroach!"

Hinata spun on her feet. The pebbles were sticking into her sandals, so she just kicked them off — and twisted her body, performing a high spinning kick onto Tetsu.

Hinata let off a gasp: Tetsu had caught her ankle. He twisted it with savage intent. She gave a small cry of pain, and tripped to the ground.

The Priestess weakly looked up. "Tetsu...sama?"

Tetsu examined his fist with morbid fascination. Blood, a result of punching the floor of rocks, was staining his knuckles. The pupils in his blue were tiny, the exact opposite of what they should have been in the dark, early morning. "What is the point of undergoing martial arts, when a commoner can hurt you so easily with a punch?" he mused. "Oh, right. Physical difference of females."

"Tetsu-sama, you are not yourself," Hinata said in a firm voice, slowly getting back on her feet. She decided to get serious — the real Tetsu had more sophisticated movements, not this temper-fueled outburst. Byakugan veins prominent, she raised her arms in the Jyuuken stance. "Why are you not using acupuncture on me?" Hinata asked.

"That's in front of other villagers." Tetsu balled his hands. He stood still for a while. "If it's just you, though, I can fight as barbaric as I want."

Hinata saw his foot bend at an angle. He was coming.

In what Hinata swore was two steps, Tetsu's fist was above and ready to strike her. "You parasite—"

'Hakke Kaiten!'

Tetsu's blue eyes opened wide for an instant. He guarded his face with crossed arms, and took the incoming wall of chakra.

Tetsu skidded back in the pile of stones. He grit his teeth. He had seen the petite girl in battle, but never had he witnessed Hinata making that large of a chakra sphere.

The blurry mass in the center of the Kaiten sharpened. Hinata slowed down in her rotation. The fluids in her brain were slightly spinning; she had not performed that move in a while. 'That was too close,' Hinata thought. 'Since when did he become so fast?'

"Hmpf." Tetsu cracked his knuckles. "That barrier you put up isn't fully permeated with ki, isn't it? You rotate your body, to make the thin lines of ki more efficient at pushing away opponents."

The Priestess grit her teeth at what Tetsu did next. The gray aura became to glow from his entire body. His platinum hair was now touching white. He looked what Naruto would look like, were Naruto a dead and vengeful ghost.

"Even you have a limit," Tetsu said, his blue eyes narrowing upon her. "If I pushed long and hard enough through that barrier you create, your ki production will eventually give out before mine."

'How long did he know how to control chakra before I arrived here?' Hinata bit her lip. 'I might have been underestimating him. And I can't use the Kaiten often; I get dizzy too easily.'

Her Byakugan focused on Tetsu's chakra system as he came rushing in. Hinata made an intricate motion with her arm, trailing blue chakra from her finger like a rhythmic gymnast with a ribbon. If she could just make some sort of distraction...

"What are you trying now?" Tetsu murmured in her ear. He smirked when he saw Hinata's look of surprise.

But it did not last long. Her arm blurred, grabbing his ghost-colored wrist with her thin fingers. 'Here!' Her other hand appeared from her loose sleeve, the index and middle fingers pulsating with white chakra. She jabbed them into a pressure point in his ribcage.

At the unexpected blow, a painful cough escaped Tetsu. He felt his body collapse on Hinata's arm.

* * *

"Hokage-sama, I do not intend to be imposing on you..."

Tsunade heaved a sigh. "What is it, Hiashi?"

The Hyuuga patriarch coughed. "Was it really necessary to release Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke as part of the search party?" He raised an eyebrow: her face was looking down at the surface of her desk, but she was twitching. "So I was correct. They _are_ searching for her."

The blond woman wanted to scratch her desk. "I never gave them the permission!" Tsunade finally exploded. "And Sai of the ANBU-group Roots is also with them, no doubt."

"Ah, but Tsunade," a familiar voice said through the door, "you _did_ give them permission."

Jiraiya clunked into the office with his wooden geta-sandals, holding a stack of papers.

Tsunade wondered why he was doing errands that chuunin were supposed to do. The old hermit took the top piece of paper, and handed it to her. "Read it. And weep."

Tsunade's hazel eyes widened as she read each word of the simple-looking paper. -I hereby grant permission for Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Sai of the 'Roots' to search for Hyuuga Hinata. Tsunade, Godaime Hokage-

Her signature was larger and more artsy than what she remembered. Now that she thought about it, she always used a hanko — a personalized stamp — to take care of documents. Yet it was definitely Tsunade's signature, and that marked as an official approval.

"But I don't remember ever signing this," Tsunade weakly said.

Hiashi turned to the white-haired sennin, who seemed to know what was going on. "Jiraiya-sama, I do not understand. What exactly happened?"

"Well, I actually witnessed the whole thing." The laughter threatened to escape Jiyaiya. "It was just so amusing... A bit serious, though, so I tracked the paper. In order that it didn't leave the village."

* * *

(( (Two weeks ago)

Jiyaiya watched from a distance as Tsunade toured the Ninja Academy. 'What nostalgia,' he thought, looking around the place that nurtured him long, long ago. 'Except that Tsunade's chest was as flat as a board.'

Jiraiya cocked his head, seeing an odd spot of black in some of the greenery. While Tsunade was surrounded by the Academy children, he inched his way towards the suspicious place.

The old hermit was surprised at what he saw. Behind a few bushes that separated the playground from the Academy's property, an ANBU-member kneeled down to a small, dark-haired girl.

"Hey, could you do me a big favor?" Sai asked the girl. He pointed at an opening in the bushes, indicating Tsunade. "See that tall lady right there?" Sai handed the girl a framed piece of paper, along with a marker. "I want her autograph. Could you get her to sign this for me?"

The girl poked her cheek with a finger. "But... she's the Hokage-sama," she dawdled. "I'd get nervous, Nii-san."

"You're a brave girl," Sai said with encouragement. He unraveled a small scroll: it was a detailed ink-painting of furry kittens. "If you get me the autograph, I'll give you this."

The girl's eyes shined. The small kittens actually looked like they were tussling and moving on the paper. "Um... Okay." She took the autograph frame from Sai's hands, and ran towards Tsunade.

Sai and Jiraiya watched as the girl pushed her way through the children crowding the blond woman. She shyly lifted the framed paper to the Hokage. "Um, Hokage-sama... could you sign this please?"

Tsunade blinked. "Sign?" Looking at the innocent yet nervous adoration on the little girl, Tsunade could not help but smile warmly. 'Do I really get fans this young? Oh well...' Without a second thought, she marked the framed paper, and handed it back.

The girl bowed to Tsunade. "Thank you, Hokage-sama!" She ran off, leaving a flustered Tsunade with the other children.

Jiraiya watched as the child handed Sai the framed signature. Sai gave her the promised ink-painting, and she skipped off, delighted to have such a pretty thing in her possession.

The ANBU-member pulled the autograph from its frame — and unfolded the paper. There was a top flap, on which were printed certain words that Tsunade definitely had not seen. ))

* * *

Hiashi seemed to be fighting a smirk from forming on his face. "Hokage-sama... You signed something, thinking it was an autograph?"

"How dare Sai go so low as to bribe a CHILD?" Tsunade asked hotly, her face burning in anger and embarrassment.

"In my opinion, that was brilliant," Jiraiya commented. "I should have thought of that, hiding a contract within an autograph frame. Then I could have gotten some woman," — he briefly glanced at Tsunade — "to legally become my personal slave."

Hiashi felt uncomfortably warm in his cotton kimono. Was it just him, or was Jiraiya trying to flirt with Tsunade? Or perhaps Jiraiya was thinking about having any young woman as an intimate servant. One never knew with a pervert like Jiraiya.

"Anyway, this shouldn't have happened," Tsunade muttered. "First things first. I will inform the hunter-nin that this contract is void, and that they should capture the three."

Jiraiya blinked. "But the contract has your signature."

"I can withdraw from any contract I deem dangerous, because I am the goddamn HOKAGE." Tsunade's look was murderous, as if daring him to challenge the title.

"Yes, of course," Jiraiya said with a nervous laugh. "You are all powerful here." Privately, he wondered whether Tsunade was getting her first taste from the bitter cup of an insane, power-hungry and evil overlord — controlling everything within her reach, and breaking objects when things did not go her way. It was either all that, or she was just really pissed right now.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair, and tossed her head back. "This is going to take a lot of paperwork."

"Come on, Tsunade-_chan_." Jiraiya grinned. "Why don't you just let them be, and take part in the search for your apprentice and Hinata?"

"It's just the _principle_ of the whole thing," Tsunade answered. "You don't trick your leader into unwittingly sign..."

"That's your fault for not detecting it, and you know it."

Jiraiya's words hit home hard. Tsunade just turned her head away, an angry pout on her red lips. "I don't know where Sai's loyalties are, either," she muttered. "Would he _actually_ help in the retrieval of the girls?"

"Naruto has a strange effect on people," Jiraiya said. "If Sai refuses to do what he promised, Naruto will convert him, pound him, or guilt-trip him."

Tsunade weighed the possibilities. Report Sai, Sasuke and Naruto as illegally out of Konoha: at least thirty sheets of paperwork. On the other hand, if she just let hunter-nin check up on them, and pass a verbal warning, she probably would be clear of extra letters to write.

"I have a better idea," Tsunade said. She pointed at Jiraiya. "In addition to hunter-nin, _you_ go search for them. Since Naruto listens to you, more or less, you do the lecturing."

Jiraiya looked surprised. "...Me?"

"I want you out of Konoha by tomorrow morning," Tsunade said crisply. She began stamping papers, one after the other, looking at each piece more carefully than Jiraiya had ever seen her do with paperwork.

"Tomorrow morning?" Jiraiya asked in horror. "But... within a week..."

"Is the opening of the renovated bathhouse in Konoha," Tsunade said. "In order that the women of this village may enjoy the new facility in peace, and _privacy,_ I will see to it that you are nowhere near its grounds during the first month of its business."

"No, Tsunade, please!" Jiraiya whined. "You're too cruel! I was looking forward to its renovation for _weeks_!"

Hiashi inwardly sighed. He saw a battle of the sexes coming up soon. "If I may be excused, Hokage-sama..."

* * *

Tetsu awoke to the constant of long, jagged sounds. He recognized it as the morning raking of the family rock garden.

The platinum-haired boy drew himself up. He noticed he was wrapped in a single futon blanket, and he was lying in the outdoor hallway. He rubbed his eyes, trying to remember how he ended up sleeping here.

His eyes opened with a start. He clutched one area of the yukata he was wearing. Had he truly throw a temper tantrum at Hinata, or was that just a bad dream?

He remembered Hinata telling him that she could not stay in the village. He remembered anger. Just like when he had to experience that horrible place called school. Nobody wanted to talk or play with him, because he was a 'freak albino'. Even the teachers ignored him.

The only time any villager heeded him was when he _displayed_ his anger — when he finally snapped, and pounding the living daylights out of the biggest and ugliest of the company around him.

Hinata was the same. She might have been new to the household, to the whole village and country. But she treated Tetsu just like the others. She avoided him like the plague. It was only at rare, random times when she turned all nice and smiling for him. But when he actually began getting used to it, she would run off, with an 'errand' to do, with a need to brush her teeth, or some meager thing that Tetsu _knew_ was just an excuse to avoid him. She was really a parasite, sucking up all the knowledge and good will from his parents that he alone was supposed to inherit...

But still, Tetsu felt embarrassed. He wondered why his sanity always broke at an unexpected instant.

The raking sounds stopped. Tetsu heard the light steps of Hinata as she moved from the ground to the raised floor of the house. Her pale face peeped from around the corner. "Tetsu-sama, how do you feel?"

"I have a pounding headache." He watched Hinata kneel down. Tetsu involuntarily closed his eyes as she put a hand to his forehead. Her touch felt nice. "Did I do anything... bad to you this morning?"

When he heard no response, he already understood.

There was a long silence between them.

The platinum-haired boy turned away. He clutched his shoulder. "I... I'm sorry."

Hinata nodded, accepting the apology.

"Would you like to train martial arts with me, Tetsu-sama?" Hinata asked, changing the subject. "I think you need more company, and exercise. I don't understand how you learned how to make ki, but those reserves will quickly drain if you don't keep your body in shape." She cracked a smile. "That pressure-point I hit was supposed to slow your movements down. Instead, it knocked you out."

The slightest color of anger rose in Tetsu's cheeks. He turned away, harrumphing.

* * *

A faint knocking sounded at the door. "Um, Kazekage-sama?" a hesitant voice squeaked.

Gaara sat at his desk, chin resting in his hand. He was utterly bored. "Come in."

The door opened, and a chuunin walked in with a box full of scrolls. "The new mission requests," he said, the sweat of fear already evaporating from his skin. He carefully set it down on Gaara's desk. "And, the signed papers...?"

Gaara made a light tap on the left side of his desk. There rested several stacks of papers, all signed and ready by his hand. They were even tied with white string.

"It's windy outside, so be careful when you carry them," the red-haired teenager said.

Translation: 'If you trip and scatter these papers, I will _hold_ you responsible, if you know what I mean.'

"Y-yes Sir," the man croaked.

As soon as the chuunin dashed out of the room with all the papers, Gaara checked around to make sure nobody saw him. When the coast was clear, he propped up his feet on the top of his desk. His brother Kankurou had suggested he do it, just for the heck of it. Gaara first thought it looked stupid — Kankurou then asked how else he was supposed to relax during the slow periods in work.

So that became Gaara's sole form of relaxation. Propping his feet on the desk.

If anybody gave their honest opinion, they would say that Gaara had no life. But nobody in their right minds would say that, for fear of incurring his annoyance and turning into a bloody mush in his sand.

Well, maybe that was what the past-Gaara would do. The emo-insomniac, before Naruto knocked some humanity into him. Now he was just an insomniac. Still a bit lonely, but better than the past. Knowing that he had people close to him, like his siblings and Naruto, helped him stay calm.

The one thing that Gaara might have wanted to have more, perhaps, was the ability to physically sleep without having a giant tanuki go on a killing rampage while his body dangled to its side. Yes, he wished to experience real sleep.

Sure, insomnia was a convenient thing to have when was Kazekage. Since he never slept, Gaara always had his paperwork done on time. But the idea of sleep was appealing. It was like having time stop for you. It was lonely and boring when one stayed up every night doing paperwork, while everybody else slept on.

To just have Time himself _stop_: what an odd, but fascinating thing, Gaara thought.

In addition, that recent scientific finding — saying that if rats were forced to stay awake, they would die within three weeks — was not the most uplifting piece of news. Neither for Gaara, nor his people. He was not a rat, but the villagers of the Hidden Sand probably wondered if that signaled an early death for their Kazekage.

And the villagers were just beginning to get used to him.

Gaara closed his dark eyelids. His mind was wandering to depressing things. He picked up the next item to read: the weekly report from Konoha.

His jade eyes blinked once at one section of the report.

-Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke are out on a search mission, which could possibly take months. If they run through your borders, Kazekage-dono, inform them that although they are not considered missing-nin by Konoha, they will receive a long talk.-

'So that's why I haven't gotten a letter from Naruto in two weeks,' Gaara thought.

A thin, but high-pitched sound entered his hearing. He realized it was screaming from a distance.

The redhead looked out his window from the Kazekage Tower. His jade eyes caught a hold of something peculiar: the bottom of the dark streets glistened, like the surface of a flowing river.

Convinced that a flood had not overtaken the desert village, Gaara jumped from his window, willing the sand to catch and lower him to the ground. The shouts of night guards were coming closer. He touched the ground, in the way of the traveling pieces of glitter.

Gaara blinked. The night was making it hard to decipher what it was. But he could swear that a hill was _wiggling_ through the streets towards him. He waited for the foot of the mountain to come under a street light.

To his surprise, a baby's face emerged in the dim light. It giggled up at the Kazekage.

A confused Gaara raised his eyes to the top of the large heap.

What met him was the sight of perhaps a hundred similar baby faces piled on top of one another. It was bizarre, but that was exactly what he saw. What further made him uncomfortable was that they did not have human bodies. Instead, their necks were attached to something that looked like the end of a fat snake.

Gaara crossed his arms, studying the mass. 'Well, Ichibi,' he mentally asked the demon within him, 'what do you think?'

No response from the raccoon-dog. Gaara frowned. Well, it was at least a try. Naruto told him in one of his letters that simply thinking a message towards sealed demons sometimes got a response.

"KAZEKAGE-SAMA!"

Gaara looked behind him. A night security guard was running towards him from another street — with another river of the little munchkin-monsters behind him.

"Excellent timing!" the guard shouted with relieved joy. "Now, Sir, could you please — AHHH!" While Gaara waved towards him, a tsunami of the baby-headed snakes rose behind the red-haired teenager. "Kazekage-sama, why do you have a river of monsters with YOU as well?" he demanded, as if Gaara were some sort of god.

The Kazekage put a hand to his brow. He was getting a headache from all the screaming and yelling from the guards. As Ichibi was not roaring in satisfaction in his head right now, Gaara decided that not even bloodshed had occurred as a result of these... creatures.

He had to do something, though. Gaara lifted up his hands. Trails of sand floated around the squirming youkai. Pretty soon, two large nets of the Tsuchi no Ko were suspended in the air. The redhaired teenager gave a long stare at the trapped monsters.

"If there's any of you that can speak the human language, please speak up now," he demanded.

A long silence.

Gaara's loyal Suna-nin did not know whether to laugh at the absurdity of the request, or cry that their leader was trying to speak with monsters. Maybe the Ichibi took over Gaara's consciousness in a new way.

"No takers?" Gaara asked. Well, it was a long time since he tasted blood. Maybe crushing youkai in his Desert Coffin would break the monotony.

"Please, Sir," a voice suddenly piped up from one of the nets. "Could you help us?"

The Suna-nin gulped. Whatever spoke up to Gaara, it had to be a fearsome beast, hidden deep within one of those masses of squirming youkai. It was a good thing that Gaara decided to make a sturdy net (although they would not have minded if he had just done away with them in one squeeze).

"Ugh, urg, mmmph... Hold on..."

There was about a twenty-second struggle for the being to get close enough to Gaara to be visible. When it finally did, it made a popping sound as it pushed itself off their slimy comrades, through the ropes of sand, and finally fell flat before Gaara's feet.

Gaara looked down at the smallest, but fattest, snake he had ever seen. Unlike its comrades, it had an orange instead of yellow hue to its scales, and did not have the face of a human baby.

"We are the Tsuchi no Ko tribe," the little one announced in a tone Gaara unmistakably identified as pride. "We apologize for the sudden disturbance into your colony."

"Kazekage-sama..." - "It escaped the ropes!" - "Why are you keeping them _alive_, Kazekage-sama?"

Gaara send them a hard look. When the men shrank back, the redhead turned again to leader of the Tsuchi no Ko. He had read about them in a children's book. They were supposed to be plump snakes with cute faces. He vaguely remembered asking his babysitter whether he could see one. When the babysitter answered that they did not exist, Gaara had been so upset and disappointed that he killed the babysitter in a shower of sand and blood. The book had also been torn to shreds.

The modern-day, civilized Gaara looked at the real thing before him. 'The question is, are they a threat to humans?'

**'Tsuchi no Ko,'** the Ichibi's voice echoed in Gaara. **'They're mostly harmless.'**

Gaara sighed. 'So now the damn tanuki decides to speak.'

* * *

Notes:

"tanuki" - a raccoon-dog, which is a completely different species from the raccoon. The tanuki and the kitsune (fox) are considered beings of trickery in Japanese mythology.

Yes, it is true that if you keep rats awake constantly, they will die within three weeks.

Oh, and that little girl calling Sai "Nii-san" does not indicate that he is her actual older brother. It just means she acknowledges him as her elder. It is a common thing in the Japanese language for kids to call older kids as "nii-san" (older brother) or "nee-san" (older sister). If the person they address seems much older than that, than they call them "oji-san" (uncle) or "oba-san" (aunt).

x

What a random way to end a chapter. But I'm tired! And it's about time Gaara showed up again. I was thinking of putting him off later, but...

x

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	42. The Meaning of Life

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ by Douglas Adams. I do not own Rene Decartes' _Meditations._ I do not own Excel Saga. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

I forgot to add a note in the last chapter: I got the information of Tsuchi no Ko from the anime "Ninin ga Shinobuden". For any fan of ninja anime, this one is just hilarious!

To XL - You're freakin' right. And to think that for months I was getting depressed over this damn story. I think I was dragging my feet in the plot because I was scared to write the next scenes.

This chapter is definitely rated 'T'/PG-13 for violence, disturbing images, etc. If you're upset to tears, please read the endnotes.

x

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 42: The Meaning of Life

* * *

Gaara looked at what was placed in his hands. "A mirror?"

It was a circular mirror, small enough to fit in his palms. "One the Three Sacred Treasures," said the leader of the Tsuchi no Ko. "The Yata no Kagami. It's incomplete, though."

The redhaired human blinked at the small youkai. "So you're saying that it had been broken up in several fragments," Gaara said. "Where are the other pieces?"

The leader's tail twitched. "Well, you see..."

"You don't know." Gaara tilted his head upward towards the other small youkai in the nets. "What about your subjects?"

The tribe of Tsuchi no Ko had a straightforward answer: "We don't know either!"

Their unified chorus dissolved the tense atmosphere around the humans. 'They seem more like children than youkai,' Kankurou commented privately.

Gaara stared into the mirror's surface. It was clouded. "So this is just a regular mirror."

"There's a bit of spiritual energy in it, thank you very much!" The fat snake scratched its back with the tip of his tail. "A few desert whales tried to steal it from us, so we came all the way here. Hopefully, you have a priestess or monk who'd be able to keep it safe..."

The Suna-nin looked at each other.

Gaara's face suddenly turned serious. "You were _chased_ here?" He abandoned his control over the sand nets, making all the Tsuchi no Ko drop to the ground with a loud noise. The red-haired human began to run towards the entrance of the village.

"Kazekage-sama, what are you—"

"STAY BACK." Gaara's feet lifted off the ground in a mass of sand. He willed it to fly him towards the village gates.

Something faintly like the bellow of a whale echoed from the desert. Only, it was more jagged than a normal whale cry. A massive sand dune began to rise in front of the village.

Two skeletons of whales groaned as they rose up, and crashed backwards into the sand.

Gaara got his fingers ready. He had read about whales, so he had known they were huge — but not _this_ huge. The sheer magnitude of the skeletons put him slightly in awe. The monsters dove into the grainy ocean, and swam back to try again.

Gaara stared at the beasts. "How did those come to _exist_?"

"Sometimes, when humans hunt down a whale, and cut it up on land slowly while it's still alive, resentment festers in the creature," explained the leader of the Tsuchi no Ko. "The larger bones are discarded by humans, and it turns into a youkai. They enter sandy places to avoid being seen by their former relatives."

'I was asking about normal whales, not Desert Whales,' Gaara thought. Not wasting time, he made several hand-seals.

"Suna no Tate." (Shield of Sand)

Nothing happened.

One of Gaara's subjects piped up his voice, hesitant. "Um, Kazekage-sama... why is that wall not forming around you?" Actually, he wondered why Gaara had to perform hand-seals at all; the Suna no Tate was an automatic ability for him.

"Not for me," Gaara muttered.

Slabs of hardened sand burst from all sides of the city, reinforcing the wall that protected the buildings and people within.

The Suna-nin looked around in amazement of Gaara's handiwork. The beauty and magnitude made it terrifying.

"Kazekage-sama, they're diving!"

"I can see that." Gaara slammed his hands onto the ground. "Suna no Tate!"

As he shouted the words again, an underground shell cemented around the foundation of the village. He did not know whether it was strong enough to keep the youkai from swimming upward and blowing out the town from the inside, but it was worth a try.

The red-haired teenager kept himself in a kneeling position, holding his hands against the ground. He kept his palms firmly there, even when the ground began to tremor, then shake violently. However much the whales tried, they could not enter the city from underneath.

Gaara took several deep breaths. That had been more chakra than he had ever used within fifteen seconds. He had not even known before that his Shield could encompass the entire village — only now he had thought of it on the spur, and had done it.

Gaara then felt something warm against his chest. He eyed his linen sash, and took out the mirror. His jade eyes went deep into its clouded surface. "So this rusty thing can channel chakra."

"That's not all." The Tsuchi no Ko leader wiggled a dance on Gaara's shoulder. "It's main virtue is that it shows the true nature of whatever being is reflected in it!"

Gaara blinked. He tried to tear his eyes away from the mirror. But its cloudy depths seemed to suck his vision in, like a black hole. The curiosity was too much; he wanted to see what it showed...

A familiar face appeared. 'Yashamaru?'

(( Yashamaru traced his fingers over a picture in a book. "The Three Sacred Treasures," he said to a five-year-old Gaara. "The jewel, the mirror, and the sword: each represent a virtue which a ruler must possess."

Gaara hugged a stuffed, patched rabbit as he listened to his uncle. "A ruler. Like my father?"

Yashamaru nodded. "The jewel is the Yasanagi no Magatama. It represents benevolence. A ruler is always considerate of his subjects. He is charitable when times are hard, and also has a sense for mercy."

"Mer-cy?" Gaara mouthed.

"The ability to forgive sins made against them," Yashamaru explained. He turned the page of the book. "The next one is the Yata no Kagami, the mirror that represents wisdom and knowledge. A ruler understands and sees as much as he can, so that he can make the correct decisions. The last one is the Kusanagi — the sword, for justice." Yashamaru turned to his nephew. "If you had the decision to have one of the Treasures, Gaara, which would you choose?"

"Mm..." The tiny redhead looked up. "The mirror."

Yashamaru's eyes slightly widened. Knowing the bloodthirsty demon that resided in the little boy, he had been sure that Gaara would choose the sword Kusanagi, the only weapon among the three. "The mirror? Why?"

"I'd get to see what everybody is really like." Gaara gripped Yashamaru's sleeve. "Like, what does my father like best. What is hidden inside people, their thoughts."

A nervous moment passed Yashamaru. "That's true." He pushed away any unsettling look that might upset Gaara. "The mirror would show you the Truth, the deep reality." He put a hand on his nephew's head. "I'm going to tell you something your mother told me once, when I was young. When you grow up — no, when everybody grows up — your dreams will sometimes be replaced by reality, and that reality is not always pleasant. That is why... you should enjoy childhood while you still can." ))

Gaara felt like he could not breathe. 'Turn away from the mirror! Don't look at it!' His eyes would not obey.

The clouds in the mirror cleared. A shiver traveled up Gaara's spine at what he saw. The reflections of his subordinates were half-open bodies, with intestines and blood vessels glistening out. One of the Suna-nin had lungs with black patches — Gaara remembered that he was a smoker by habit.

'The unseen truth,' the Kazekage realized. The mirror showed what was inside people, literally. The reflections in the mirror then began projecting sounds. Voices.

'What's wrong with that Gaara? He looks half-crazed.' - 'Working for him is terrifying.' - 'I still wonder why the elders elected him to Kazekage, even though half of them are scared he'd burst the raccoon-dog any minute.' - 'Has the tanuki finally possessed him? He's just staring at that mirror...'

Gaara felt himself shake. 'My subordinates' thoughts?' What was worse in the mirror was his own image. His face was morphing into that of the Ichibi. Gaara realized that he had never actually seen the face of the demon before. It was terrifying. He had a monster inside — no, he _was_ the monster.

Kankurou realized that something was wrong. He began walking towards his younger brother. "Gaara!"

Gaara did not hear him. Ichibi's voice started as a hissing whisper, and began to increase in volume as the mirror poured spiritual energy into him. **'Why are you investing so much energy into protecting a human village?'** the raccoon-dog asked. **'The Mirror tells you what your so-called loyal subordinates are really thinking. Remember, it takes only one knife in the back. Although,' **he barked a laugh, **'I'll stop several before they reach you.'**

Gaara's vision began to waver between the tangible and the subconscious world. 'I don't need a reason to protect them, do I? I'm the Kazekage.'

**'You did not become Kazekage by your own will. The village council decided that, since you were the strongest in the village, and the son of their previous Kage. They only desire protection, the weak-minded humans that they are. Listen. They are doubting your sanity.'**

A flash of his uncle's face blinded Gaara.

**'How about it?'** Ichibi took the chance while Gaara's confidence went frail. **'Leave the pathetic humans to fend for themselves against the bone-whales. There's no fun in destroying youkai that don't have blood to shed.'**

Gaara clutched his forehead. Yes, he was tired. Tired of protecting ungrateful citizens, tired of pesky enemies trying time and time again to infiltrate this place. But...

(( "Just you wait, Gaara!" Naruto shouted. "You might have beaten me in becoming a Kage — but I'm gonna be best Hokage ever, and protect Konohagakure no Sato!" ))

Inside, the raccoon-dog grinned as a ghost of Gaara walked towards him. **'Ah, giving up your body again to me?"** asked the monster.** "Good choice. Don't worry; I'll give your body back when the work is over.'**

The Ichibi then paused. Gaara's transparent image stopped walking.

Then, the Kazekage made a rude gesture to the demon, involving a finger.

"GAH!" Gaara forcibly threw the mirror away. As soon as his fingers left the object, his vision was thrown back into the three-dimensional world. The spinning artifact was caught by one of the Suna-nin behind Gaara. More specifically, it hit Kankurou in the stomach with the force of a discus.

Gaara wiped away the torrent of sweat from his face. Although he would never admit it, he always wanted to flick someone off. Or something.

The whales leaped out of the ocean of sand, trying to jump over the walls. In a dust devil, Gaara appeared on top of his rocky wall, and threw a punch at the air towards the youkai. His copy, a large arm of sand, burst from the ground and slugged the two whale-skeletons.

The whales let off eerie groans as they skidded back. Gaara reached out his arms, determined to finish the job now. He did not need the Yata no Kagami to give him more chakra, or new sights on reality. Even if the Ichibi called the villagers 'weak-minded', or the mirror revealed his subordinates as mere pieces of flesh... 'Then I'm weak-minded, too!' Gaara crushed his fists, enveloping the flying whales in a blanket of sand. 'I am also flesh. That is our LIFE.'

He squeezed. 'Sabaku Kyuu!' (Coffin of Crushing Sand)

The whales yowled at the immense pressure. The purple lights in their dark, empty eye-sockets brightened for a brief second, before their skulls split. The ribs, the long bones making up their fins, all were crushed to pieces. A silence. Gaara stood at the top of his walls, watching as the sand settled. A purple light gleamed in one of the hollows of the skull. Like an eye, it turned to the Kazekage.

"You cursed yourself by not handing over the Mirror," one skeletal demon groaned. "Humans cannot take the Truth that the Mirror gives. That life, is suffering, and finally death..."

The purple light of its eye socket vanished. The last clouds of youki hissed out of the remains, and dispersed into the air.

"Gaara!" Kankurou shouted from below. "Are you okay?" To his horror, his younger brother fell back, taking the long drop over the village walls. Gaara's eyes were partially open; he had not passed out, but was close. The puppet-master threw out several chakra strings. They adhered to the sandstone slabs. Like a rescue net, they caught Gaara's body, and directed him to slide safely down.

Kankurou almost tripped when Gaara's weight fell in his arms. 'Damn gourd he always carries!' The puppet-master struggled to put his younger brother down without dropping him. 'What's the point of carrying sand with you, when there's sand _everywhere_ in the desert?'

Several voices called from one of the streets. The personal guard of the Kazekage, along with a team of medic-nin, came running towards the siblings.

The head medic knelt to Gaara's head. She cautiously neared her hand towards his sweaty and pale face — the sand danced around him, but did not attack her. Gaara weakly opened his eyes.

The medic-nin tensed first, but then relaxed. She touched his neck with two fingers. Her eyes widened in alarm. "Gaara-sama's chakra-producing organs are almost empty!" she shouted, hardly believing her own words. "Medic team, form the circle!"

Kankurou almost faltered. Chakra depletion? GAARA? He leaned down to the head medic. "Are you serious? Even when inside him there's a—" The entire guard looked at Kankurou with warning eyes, as if saying, 'DON'T say it.' His mouth clamped shut. Their silence continued as the emergency healing proceeded.

As she pumped healing chakra in Gaara's abdomen, the head medic-nin studied the serenity in his face. 'Maybe the council made the right decision after all. He pushed himself that much for this village...'

Kankurou looked at the Yata no Kagami, which was now wrapped in bandages. 'What are we going to do with this?'

* * *

Hinata sorted out the last of the herbs she had picked in the early morning. She lifted up a leftover flower. It was useless in terms of herbal remedies, but it held a pleasant scent.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tetsu asked, standing Hinata's doorway. He walked in, and seated himself on the other side of the table. He began to help Hinata wrap up the herbs, each paper leaflet holding one type of plant.

Hinata put the flower down, and smiled in gratitude. "Tetsu-sama. Do you want to spar already?"

"No!" Tetsu snapped, making Hinata jump. He looked at her stiffened face. He turned away. "No. Thank you."

Natsumi appeared at the door's opening, holding a tea set. "Hinata, I got you some tea — oh, Tetsu."

Hinata blinked. The words of 'You're early' seemed to have formed on the old woman's mouth.

Tetsu nodded. "Kaa-san." For some reason, he looked sadder than ever as Natsumi set the tea onto the table. He put the wrapped herbs away into a nearby basket, and handed it to his mother.

"I'll leave you two together." Natsumi slid the door shut.

An awkward pause was between them. Hinata noticed that the platinum-haired boy had not tossed away her flower while clearing the table; it was still on the surface, untouched.

'Obaa-sama must have thought she could have tea with me alone,' Hinata thought. 'Tetsu looks so hurt.' She forced out a smile to Tetsu, and lifted the pot.

As she distributed the liquid between the two identical cups, Hinata noticed something. Her tea had more froth than Tetsu's. That usually meant that her cup had more of high-quality powdered leaf, but...

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Hinata. "Yours isn't very thick, is it?"

Tetsu blinked as Hinata dumped the liquid back into the pot. Well, it was not unhygienic, since neither of them had drunk.

Hinata re-poured. She watched as Tetsu lifted the cup to his mouth, and sipped. 'He's not hesitating,' Hinata thought in relief. She then took her own, and drank.

"It's good," Tetsu said. "Thank you."

"It was nothing." Hinata bowed, in the graceful way her family had taught her.

Hinata froze. An odd feeling traveled through her. She faltered at the warmth flooding her skin. 'What?' The girl looked up, and realized that Tetsu was approaching her. She could not move, literally.

"I'm sorry, Hinata." Tetsu put a hand on her cheek. "My mother told me if I don't do this, I'll be punished." He laid her down to the tatami-mat. She was offering no resistance — physical resistance, anyway.

Hinata looked at him, fear in her eyes. "The tea..."

"My mother drugged it," Tetsu said. "Paralysis powder. Don't worry; it'll numb your whole body, so it won't hurt."

He then tensed.

Hinata was not surprised when Tetsu's weight ungracefully fell on her. "Now we're both drugged," she mumbled.

Tetsu swallowed. He managed to prop his arms at Hinata's sides, and push up. "So that's why you put the tea back into the pot. You noticed your cup was different." Realizing that it was too much work for him, he slowly let himself down, his head next to Hinata's on the cool tatami-mat. "But the drug will be out of my system sooner than yours. I just have to stay here and wait." His nose touched her cheek. "But in the meantime..."

Hinata felt the urge to vomit as he kissed her mouth. 'No, my boyfriend is NARUTO-KUN!'

"Forgive me if I'm clumsy." Tetsu put a sweaty hand on her neck, holding her weak struggles. "I haven't really done this before."

"Stop it, Tetsu-sama!" Hinata's eyes opened. She realized that she retained the ability to shout. "Stop, please. I can and _will_ scream if you continue!"

"Don't you get it?" Tetsu pulled his yukata away from his shoulders. "Kaa-san planned this. She probably took Tou-san outside for a walk, long enough to leave us in peace." He gave a sad laugh. "And even if the neighbors notice, they'd be used to hearing female screams. They'd encourage me to continue, if anything."

Hinata's squirmed under his heavy movements. "No, please..." The drug was impeding her chakra production. She wouldn't even be able to ask the Magatama for help, because her own ki signature had to surface on her skin before the item could activate.

"Didn't you realize that Kaa-san put aphrodisiacs into your drinks this past month?" Tetsu asked. "Hinata, please. Relax. I probably will enjoy this less than you do." He caressed her, and began to whisper poetry in her ear.

* * *

(( (20 years ago)

Natsumi gave a loud cry in her futon. Murashi, her husband, sat beside her. He patted her gently.

"Shh... It's alright, Natsumi."

"I'm sorry!" Natsumi sobbed out. "If... If I had known, I wouldn't have..." She wiped the sleeve of her yukata off her face. "But it's too late. I deserve to be thrown out. You don't need a barren wife..."

"Don't say such things." Murashi stroked Natsumi's shoulder, and kissed it. "Do you think I'd abandon you, after you tried so much to please me?" He embraced her from behind. "I should have discussed it with you more often. Then this might not have happened."

He held her there for quite some time. "Murashi," the woman finally whispered. "Is it okay if I sleep alone tonight?" Natsumi curled her legs up to her chest. "It's not that I don't like your presence. I just want to think."

He paused. "Are you sure?" She nodded. "All right. Please call me if you need anything." Murashi stood up, and opened the sliding door. "I'll wake you up in the morning, all right?" He closed the panel shut behind him.

With her husband gone, Natsumi sniffled to herself. Murashi was so kind. But the villagers would look down on her. Now it seemed only yesterday, when she had been pregnant. But she had decided to 'filter' herself, and wait longer. She had done it again. Then, nothing had happened.

Now, it was all over. The signal that she might be pregnant, the third shining hope for her — it turned out to be something else. Her body's fertility had died.

Part of Natsumi even wondered whether the town would go so far as to oust her. 'If only I could take it all back...'

**'Do you want to take it back?'**

Natsumi shut her eyes more tightly. Now she was hallucinating. She rolled over: a glow penetrated her eyelids.

She opened her eyes, and sat upright. She stared at the vision. A beautiful man with silver, shoulder-length hair stood in her bedroom.

'A god?' The woman tightened her yukata. 'What does he mean, take it back?'

**'Do you want to bear a child?'**

Although his lips did not move, she heard his voice boom in her ears. The fact that Murashi did not come running at his powerful voice proved to Natsumi that this either was a dream, or she was really hallucinating. "I wish to bear an heir," she whispered at the specter. "But it's too late. I am already forty."

**'With me, your age will not matter. You are still strong enough.'** The bright man walked closer to Natsumi. He knelt down to her bed. **'I will allow the child to be your husband's heir. I will even give it my protection.'** He looked at the woman in a kind manner. **'How about it?'** ))

* * *

Sakura moaned. "I'm freakin' BORED!"

Minoru made a hushing noise.

"I'm serious!" An old whine was creeping back into Sakura's voice. "It feels like some sort of unknown god is controlling my life to take a stupid path, and for months I've done nothing that I _want_ to do!" She glanced at the blond elf in Shinto robes, and saw that he was stringing his bow. She tackled him from behind.

"Minoru-san, are you even listening to me?" the pink-haired kunoichi demanded. "I want some _purpose_ to my life! I want to get in that freakin' village and drag that Priestess out! I haven't healed anybody recently, either; what was all that training under Shishou for then?"

The elf gently pushed Sakura away. "A few more minutes, I promise."

"How can you be so accurate, and CALM?" Sakura shouted at him.

"Will you _stop_ that human temper of yours?" said Minoru.

Potamos groaned as she waded into a nearby creek. Finally, some arguments were springing in their group. It was an inevitable fate if one lived with one's co-workers.

'Unknown god, though,' Potamos thought. 'Hey, that reminds me of a certain philosopher. Was it Day-cart-eez?' A light bulb turned on in her head.

"I know what we should do!" Potamos stood up from the water with her shout.

The elf and the human glared at her. "WHAT?"

"It's so _obvious_ that a Deus Malus, or an evil god, has gotten control of our actions!" Potamos exclaimed. "We might be living in a dream right now! I mean, look at our personalities and powers... We're all up to the brim with ammo and aim, but we've used practically _nothing_ these past months."

"So?" Minoru asked harshly. "That's what Sakura-san just said."

"Our _real quest_ should be to find where this evil god — or goddess — lives, and OBLITERATE IT!"

Her exclamation silenced her two companions.

"Just imagine it!" Potamos raved. "We'd travel time and space, going to parallel dimensions that random gods decide to create for their own selfish reasons, and exterminate every single one! I heard that the dimension-type 'FF' is über-chaotic. Mino-chan, you tend not to like humans of _any_ world, and you're smart, so you could be the leader! Or Itachi-san. We could create an organization that purges evil of not just one dimension, but thousands, even millions!"

'Is she serious?' Sakura thought, sweating.

Minoru hit Potamos on her head with his bow. "Enough of your wild schemes, Devil-Child. We can't escape this dimension right now, no matter how slow things are going."

Grumbling to herself, Potamos waded back into the water. She blew bubbles to let off steam. The water-demon then felt another presence. The cold slaps of sandals came closer. Potamos looked up, and saw a black cloak stitched with a pattern of red clouds.

Itachi passed her without a greeting. He stepped up on dry land, and walked through the tall grass.

"Moreover," Sakura shouted at the blond elf, "we're wasting _time_—" Her voice halted when the newcomer silently appeared.

"Indeed, we are." Itachi walked to Minoru, and handed him a small pouch. "Tie these to your arrows. Shoot them onto the surrounding wall of the village."

"Thank you," Minoru ground out. He took a sniff of the pouch. "Very like you." He stuffed the small bag into the deep sleeve of his white montsuki-shirt. He walked to a nearby tree, and emptied a quiver of arrows.

Itachi glanced at Sakura briefly. She was avoiding his gaze. He put his red eyes back on Minoru. "We're doing the operation now."

The blond looked up. "Not in the cover of dark?" When the human gave him a look, Minoru knew best that it was pointless to argue. The elf sighed. "I hate dirtying my hands so."

Sakura instinctively began looking for Potamos. Not because she was unaware of where the demon was. She just sought any opportunity to avoid the cold-blooded killer.

The kunoichi let off a frightened gasp when the Uchiha grabbed hold of her shoulder, and pulled her to the side. He at least was merciful enough to not force eye contact. Still, Sakura felt paralyzed when he spoke, his arm locked around her shoulder. "These are the instructions," Itachi said in his emotionless voice. "You are to find the Priestess of Souls within whatever house she is in, and take her back here."

Sakura gulped. "Ask around the town for the new girl," her voice warbled. "Got it." Itachi flicked her forehead. "Ow!"

"Speaking to people will not be an option."

Sakura stared into open space, confused at what Itachi had said. Not speak to people?

Minoru shot the last of the arrows. "Done," he called out. He stepped back, showing Itachi a full view of the village. His arrows were sticking in its wooden walls.

Sakura held in a scream as Itachi shoved her off the steep, rocky edge. She used her sheathed sword to dig into the gray pebbles, helping her skid in an upright position. When the drop ended, her feet dutifully began its trek toward the village. 'No talking to villagers,' she thought, a bit nervous. 'So Itachi wants me to pinpoint the chakra of the Priestess using my own senses.'

She ignored the baffled looks of the villagers as she passed the first houses. 'I guess they haven't seen a uniform before,' Sakura thought, noting her black robes. Sakura halted at one four-way, and looked around. 'Holy chakra, holy chakra... Not here.'

Sakura looked over her shoulder for a moment: stuck on the village walls were Minoru's arrows. For some reason, they had not attracted notice. It was probably because there were dirty splinters of old arrows that had already littered the walls. Target practice. Pieces of paper were rolled around those shot by the elf. 'So Itachi gave Minoru some sort of fuda.' Sakura frowned. 'Protective wards?'

From a slight distance, Itachi unsnapped the top part of his cloak. His lifted his hand up to his mouth.

'Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu.' (Fire-style: Dragon Fire Technique)

A linear, dragon-like flare started from his mouth as a tiny wisp, and gained momentum as it flew towards the village walls. It flew through the arrows, consuming them in red tongues. Within a split-second, each flamed shaft exploded into a large fireball.

'WHAT?' Sakura shielded her head with her wide sleeve as debris rained on her. When she carefully looked up, she could not believe her eyes. The wards Itachi had given Minoru were kibaku-fuda — explosive tags.

People filtered out of their houses to see what the noises were. Orders to take out the flames were shouted out.

"What are you standing around for?" a deep voice asked Sakura. "You look as though you've never seen a village burn."

Sakura's mouth went dry. Itachi was at her back. Feeling numb, she took a step forward. The next second, she saw the same Uchiha before her, pulling a kunai across the throat of an approaching villager. He was too fast.

She finally found her voice. "W-What are you doing?" Sakura shouted at him.

"Did you forget your position?" The blood from Itachi's kunai dripped to the ground. "Find the Priestess before she burns."

Sakura gave him a disbelieving look, before dashing towards the next block. Around her, flames erupted, greedily licking at the houses. 'Where is she?' Sakura was frantic. 'Where is the Priestess of Souls hiding?'

"YOU!"

A villager appeared before Sakura, raising a scythe. Apparently, he thought that Sakura had caused the fire.

'I guess I'm an accomplice,' Sakura thought grimly, drawing out her katana and blocking the sharp farming tool. Her left arm pushed her sheath into the villager's gut, making him wince and tumble back.

Sakura heard the slightest whip. Itachi's kunai passed her, and lodged into the villager's chest. Her instincts as a medic-nin screamed at her to help him. But then Sakura realized what was attached on the kunai: another explosive tag.

She willed chakra in her legs, and drew back about ten meters. She crunched her eyes as the small bomb set off. 'Why didn't you help him?' a part of her demanded. 'It wasn't too late!'

But late or not, she knew that it would have been futile to even try. Uchiha Itachi was decimating this village, whether she liked it or not.

"Are you going?" Itachi asked.

Tears collected in Sakura's green eyes. Feeling helpless, she ran ahead. 'I might as well save one person.'

Itachi watched her with his impersonal red eyes. Too emotional, he judged.

Sakura looked around at the burning district. She still could not find abnormal chakra of any sort. What was wrong with her? She possessed higher sensitivity to otherworldly, supernatural chakra than other people, so why was the ability not working up at this crucial time?

Her eyes then set upon a wall, with lavish roofing. Itachi's flames had not reached it. To be more specific, strings of his flames were flying towards the household, but they died out in the air when they were within a meter of the wall.

'Don't tell me... a barrier?' Sakura walked towards the house. Nearby was a wooden stand on which was printed -Taketori— - The last kanji were already faded. Sakura blinked at the name. 'According to the legend of Kaguya-hime, the Moon Princess was adopted by the bamboo-cutter, Taketori.'

A chill traveled across her skin as she stepped through the barrier. It was like walking into a vertical pool of water. Sakura checked the front door: it was unlocked.

'Priestess of Souls, where are you?' Sakura ran through the building, sifting through each room. She even opened the closets, in the case that the Priestess was hiding in fear of the mass fire. Wasting no time, Sakura ran to the next room — 'Not here!' — and the next room — 'No!' — and the next room.

'No! No! NO!' After the eighth room, the kunoichi wanted to tear her hair out. 'Which one is she in?'

A pulse of chakra went through her senses. Sakura stilled. She could feel something. But... the aura was not very pure. Sakura took a slow breath, and continued. She skipped two doors, and went to the end of the hallway. There was an exquisite sliding door there. There were muffled sounds from inside. Soft weeping? Sakura drew open the door.

"Tetsu-sama, get OFF!"

It was a familiar voice. There was a flash of white, making Sakura squint her eyes. She heard a body sprawl next to her feet. When the light dimmed, Sakura blinked. There was a girl at the other end.

Hinata slumped against the wooden panel. Her chakra was slowing coming back. She cranked her head up. Someone in black robes stood in the hallway. The hairstyle was unmistakably that of a samurai, but the face... "Sakura-san?"

Sakura's jaw slightly dropped. The kunoichi was stunned by the picture before her.

"Hinata?" She then saw Hinata's torn shirt, revealing a necklace of fangs and a shining, iridescent jewel. Red wounds marked her white shoulders.

Sakura turned to the body sprawled next to her. 'No,' Sakura thought, 'Hinata couldn't have been...'

Hinata folded her arms across her chest. A hiccup escaped the blue-haired girl.

Sakura's green eyes scrutinized Tetsu. "You are _not_ Naruto," she said in an angry whisper. He was not even human, her senses alerted.

Hinata struggled to stand. "Sakura-san, wait —"

Not listening to Hinata, Sakura went with her own instincts. She flung Tennyo's edge at him.

Hinata screamed as Tetsu's halved body splattered to the ground. She felt Sakura grab her shoulder. Her first reaction was to run. As terrible her ordeal was with Tetsu, Hinata did not want to deal with this transformed Sakura. The smiling, kind and supportive medic-nin that she had known in the Leaf, was not this terrifying woman with emerald eyes.

"Hinata-san, we _have_ to get out of here!" Sakura shouted. "The whole village is on fire; even in the stone walls of this house, you won't last!"

"Let go of me," Hinata pleaded, fighting to pull herself away. She wanted to cry. "LET GO OF ME!"

"_Hinata_!" Sakura scolded. She knelt down to the frightened girl. "Hinata-san, you _must_ calm down, and listen to me. This village is being wiped clean. I came to rescue you." She looked into Hinata's watery, pale eyes. "Breathe in... Breathe out."

As angry and confused Hinata was, she obeyed. After a few cycles of respiration, Hinata noticed something. The smell of smoke was infiltrating the building. "The barrier is gone."

Sakura blinked at Hinata's comment. The girl was right. The slightly numb feeling that the barrier created was nonexistent. 'So she really is the Priestess,' Sakura thought, pulling Hinata up. 'I guess it would work, Hinata holding such a position.'

"Sa-Sakura-san..."

Sakura looked at Hinata, who was now clinging her sleeve. "What is it?"

Hinata's eyes glowed white. "We must run, now!"

Sakura also felt a coming presence. She held her guard in front of the Priestess. Ashes appeared from nowhere, collecting into the shape of a human body at the door's entrance. A grinning face formed, with a hachi-maki tied around his head. "Well, well. A samurai guarding the princess."

Hinata clutched the shining bead at her neck. "Matsumitsu."

The carpenter examined the bloody mess on the hall. "Wow." Matsumitsu looked at the pink-haired girl. "Where did you learn to handle your katana? This cut is so clean. I could put him back together and moving again, if I wanted."

Hinata choked on her saliva. 'What?'

"You wouldn't dare," Sakura spat. "There are things called laws when it comes to Death."

"You talk as if you're the type to _enforce_ it, Human," Matsumitsu retorted. He reached behind his head, and grabbed what looked like the tag of his small kimono. He pulled it out, revealing a gray yet sturdy linen. He covered Tetsu with the sheet, and then drew it back: the body was gone. The only visible remains of Tetsu now were the flecks of blood on the tatami, which Sakura had shaken off from her blade.

Sakura glared at Matsumitsu. He reeked of foul chakra. She charged at the black-haired man.

Hinata gasped. "Sakura-san, watch out!"

Sakura watched her world turn into a dark, bluish purple. Matsumitsu was able to spray youki from his right hand.

Hinata sent in chakra to her throat, awakening the necklace. 'I've got to...'

The blood drained from Sakura's face as Hinata took the blast. The girl's form turned into a lavender silhouette in the dark ocean of youki. "Hinata!" Sakura shouted. The next moment, the youki was being ripped to shreds, replaced by a white light. Hinata made a wave with her arm, finalizing the spherical barrier.

Sakura was stunned at the girl in front of her. Hinata was _good_. For a while, Sakura had thought that the Priestess of Souls would be more of the passive type. Hinata was passive, yes, but she had all her speed and attacks down when the time demanded it.

The Hyuuga panted for oxygen, putting two calloused fingers over the glowing bead at her throat. In exchange for asking the sacred jewel to make a shield for two people, her chakra reserves were slowly being drained. And her body still had to deal with the remaining paralysis drug.

Matsumitsu growled. "Stubborn humans; I'll blow apart you along with that barrier!" A ball of crackling energy appeared at his knuckles, and began to grow.

"Let down the barrier, Hinata," Sakura mumbled.

Hinata glanced at Sakura. "What?"

"Trust me." Sakura made a stance with Tennyo. 'Fuck Minoru,' she thought. 'I'm putting my life on the line, if it means Hinata's safety.'

"Now, Sakura-san!" Hinata shouted. With a flick of her wrist, the barrier disappeared.

In an instant, Sakura's form appeared in front of Matsumitsu.

"Kaze no Mapputatsu!" (Wind Cleave)

A wave of air pushed the surprised Matsumitsu out of the room, and into the backyard. The energy ball in his hands flew out at an odd angle, and jetted into the corner of the house instead. Pebbles floated through the air with him above the rock garden.

A line of blood showed up on the Matsumitsu's shoulder. The carpenter looked closely: his right arm had been severed. "Stupid human," he muttered as his detached limb drifted away. "This won't kill me." A dark-purple hole appeared behind him, and sucked him in. "Here's a parting gift."

As he disappeared, a poisonous cloud of miasma was left behind.

Sakura inserted her sword back into the sheath. "Hinata-san, do you still have enough energy to purify that cloud?"

Hinata snapped out of her trance. "Huh? Oh, yes..." She cupped her hands around the Yasanagi no Magatama. Just as she was going to do a short prayer to clean away the miasma, Hinata heard a 'thump' beside her, Sakura had collapsed to her knees. Hinata dropped to the trembling girl. "Sakura-san!"

"I can't go further." Sakura looked weakly at the concerned Hinata above her. "Please, purify the cloud, before it consumes you..."

Hinata shook her head. "I'm not going to leave you behind." Hinata took an angry glance at the miasma floating in the garden. Feeling how much energy was left in the Magatama, she had a choice: either purify the cloud first, and drag Sakura out; or give Sakura renewed energy with the Magatama, and do the best to run away from the cloud of miasma together.

'If I purify the cloud first, I probably won't be able to carry Sakura-san through the burning village on my own,' Hinata thought. The miasma was rolling slowly towards them. Hinata placed two of her fingers on Sakura's throat. 'I choose Sakura's life first.'

Her necklace pulsed with energy. The holy aura zapped through Hinata's arms, and entered Sakura's bloodstream.

Sakura's green eyes snapped open.

Hinata let off a surprised yelp as Sakura bolted up right. The medic-nin stuffed a white tube in Hinata's hand, and crouched down next to her. "Get on my back," Sakura ordered. When Hinata hesitated, she was met with a yelled order: "NOW!"

Slightly frightened by Sakura, but more so of their predicament, Hinata practically latched onto her. As the miasma spread over the tatami-mat, burning a heel of Sakura's sandal, the pink-haired girl took off into the rock garden.

"I-I can carry myself, Sakura-san," Hinata whispered.

"No you can't," Sakura said, running out of the pharmacy's gates. "You drained yourself when you gave me that chakra boost." She halted when a burning pole crashed in their way, and took a detour. "Hinata-san, that thing I put in your hand is an oxygen tank, like what asthmatics have," Sakura said. "I grabbed it from the pharmacy you were in. Use it."

Hinata put its end in her mouth, and clicked it. A shot of pure oxygen rushed into her lungs. She then neared it to Sakura's mouth. "Sakura-san, you too."

"Thanks."

As she was carried, Hinata heard an explosion from behind. She looked back. The Taketori pharmacy burned in fire and miasma. Hinata bit her lip, and hugged closer to Sakura.

On the way, Hinata noticed two corpses. One of them had a familiar kimono, and hair in a bun. Hinata turned away. The only thing that relieved her was that the Taketori couple had not been burned alive. It looked like they had been fleeing, but age impeded their movements. Carbon monoxide must have been the cause.

'We have to hurry,' Sakura thought. 'There are more dead bodies that don't show signs of Itachi's doing. The smoke did them in.'

With the last of her strength, the pink-haired kunoichi leapt out of the burning gates. Her breathing became heavier as she trudged up the hill. "We... made it." Sakura's voice had now become raspy.

"Um, Sakura-san... You can let me down now."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah." Sakura knelt down and let Hinata slide off her back. She then loosened her ponytail, smoothing out her pink hair.

Sitting on the ground, Hinata studied Sakura carefully. Her black robes made her look stately and noble. Although she was trained to be a medic-nin, Sakura's demeanor truly was that of a samurai.

"You almost made me run into the village, Sakura-san."

Hinata turned to the source of the mellow voice. A woman — no, it was a man; he had blue hakama-pants and an Adam's Apple — walked through the grove of thin trees. His long, blond hair was tied back. Hinata felt her breath hitch. 'If Naruto had an older brother, this person would definitely be...'

Hinata's brain sent out a red alert. Do not trust Naruto look-alikes, was the message. Tetsu had been bad enough.

Minoru knelt down to Hinata, and offered a hand. "You need not fear me." His words were gentle, almost ethereal, as they rolled off his tongue. "I am neither human nor demon. I have no interest in harming a pure-hearted maiden as yourself."

Hinata gave a sheepish smile. She took his hand, expecting him to pull her up right away.

Instead, he lowered his mouth to her slender hand.

The Priestess felt her face turn pink at the gesture. After an agonizing two seconds, Minoru stood up, and supported Hinata as she got up on shaky legs. He then walked up the hill. "We should get you two to higher ground. Follow me."

Sakura snorted, allowing the Priestess to trail her from behind. "At least he did it right towards you. A real hand-kiss involves no lip contact." She turned her head, and noticed that Hinata looked like she was about to collapse. "Don't worry, Hinata! He treats any female of high rank like that."

"Oh," Hinata croaked in relief. Now the memories rushed back — Minoru was the one who had saved her from the three-eyed snake demon. Even now, his spiritual energy was strong.

After a ten-minute walk, Hinata noticed a campfire burning in the distance. There were two figures there: one in a black cloak, and another in a red dress with its ends like flower petals. While the former withdrew further into the grove, the latter ran towards them. "Mino-chan! Sacchan!"

As the girl approached, Hinata instinctively grabbed Sakura's loose sleeve. That was no ordinary mortal. Her bobbed, curly hair was violet, and the body in her skimpy outfit pulsed with a demonic aura. Yet her intense power did not seem exactly the same as youki.

Sakura noticed that the Priestess had drawn into her shadow. "Oh, Hinata-san, that's Potamos." She leaned closer to her ear. "Potamos is a water-demon. Not a youkai, though: she's an akuma, what foreigners might call a 'devil'. She's fine when you get to know her."

Hinata swallowed as Potamos disappeared in a mass of bubbles. "Where is she going?" Hinata then felt some dampness penetrate the back of her shirt. And then its front. She screamed.

"Wow, she's developed!" Potamos exclaimed, testing how 'endowed' Hinata was.

Sakura pulled away the water-demon from a quaking Hinata, and gave Potamos a light bonk on her head, much like she used to do with Naruto. "Don't SCARE her, Potamos! She just went through a terrible ordeal!"

Hinata managed to calm down. She turned to the water-demon, twiddling her fingers. "I-I'm pleased to meet you, Potamosu... um, Potamos?" She was nervous that she was pronouncing the name wrong.

"Yup, that's how you say it! I'm sorry if I shocked you." Potamos walked up to Hinata, and lifted up her hands. "Wow, the other spirits were right! You really are cute!" She smiled as Hinata colored prettily. "And really nice, since you haven't tried to purify me or all the crap."

'Purify.' The word hit something in Hinata. She turned, and hastened in the direction she came from. "The miasma! I have to go—" She suddenly found her arm in a tight grasp. Hinata turned, and saw the tall blond holding her wrist.

"Do not go back there," Minoru told her.

"But the miasma!" Hinata insisted. "And the villagers need to be buried!" Hinata then noticed a shadowy figure behind Minoru's shoulder. She had forgotten about the other party member. When she squinted her eyes, she recognized the cloak pattern. A member of the Akatsuki.

He turned his head, as if he had noticed Hinata's inquiring gaze. He then disappeared into the mist.

Hinata felt her knees hit the ground as she stared after him. That cold gaze, those facial features... She had been around Uchiha Sasuke long enough to know who that person was.

Uchiha Itachi. Hinata's mind was numb with shock. "The village..." Her head spun onto Sakura. "It was HIM!" When Sakura responded with only a melancholic look, the truth hit Hinata rather hard. "No. You couldn't possibly have..." Tears welled in her pale lavender eyes. "You all did..."

"There was no other choice," Sakura said, her head down in shame. "Itachi decided it. Even if I resisted, it would have been done."

Hinata spun her head towards Minoru. He looked the most upright and responsible of them. "I... I refuse to travel with your group," Hinata stated. "I am grateful that you rescued me, but — you _massacred_ a village!" Perhaps for the first time in Hinata's life, she put an angry scream in her words.

Minoru laid a frosty stare upon her. "And what do you think would have happened, had we let it continue to exist?" Surprised and upset that he would retort with a question, Hinata only turned away. "Sakura-san," the blond elf called, "what was the first thing you saw, when you met with the Priestess of Souls?"

The medic-nin drew in a shaky breath. Images of that platinum blond pinning down Hinata flashed through Sakura's mind. "A guy... he was trying to..."

"What does that have to do with it?" A tear rolled down Hinata's cheek. "Are you trying to justify burning a whole village, for _that_?"

"I'm not trying to justify it," Minoru said. He turned to the mist, where Itachi had been less than a minute before. "I myself do not like that human's disposition towards slaughter. But that village was a breeding ground for despair, for abuse, for any emotion that evil youkai feed on."

Hinata continued to sob. "Youkai? Who cares!" She felt Sakura's hand on her back, attempting to comfort her. It only made her cry more. "Those villagers were only human!"

"Do you think greed for specifically-male heirs was a _virtue_ among humans?" Minoru continued, merciless in his logic. "Within a few more years, they would have finally become a nation only of males: the ideal group to transform into an army of mate-hungry savages!" His blue eyes bore in Hinata. "You yourself experienced a near miss, Milady."

Hinata sniffed. 'But Tetsu only did it because his mother told him to...' Inside, though, she knew that it made no difference. Natsumi was the one asked Tetsu to force himself on her, even drugging Hinata's tea. The wish for male heirs in that village had not only extended to men, but also to women. Its society had already been doomed when Hinata first entered it.

"I'm sorry, Hinata-san," Sakura said. "We'll bury the villagers tonight."

Minoru took an arrow from the quiver, and pulled it across his bow. When the shaft began to glow a pleasant yellow, he released it in the direction of the village. The golden streak disappeared as it flew between the charred houses. 'Evil spirits, be gone.'

* * *

Itachi jumped quickly from boulder to boulder. He trusted his balance to not fail him in this terrain; he wanted his speed to be high enough that Minoru's group could not follow.

So the Priestess of Souls was safe, and still pure. Yet in Itachi's opinion, her sensitivity was too generous. He was surprised that it had lasted this long.

Yes, Itachi had immediately recognized her as the small, shy little heiress of the Hyuuga. Hyuuga Hinata. He had seen her several times when he had been an ANBU-captain of the Leaf.

Any normal ninja would have expected her to be more cynical. Itachi had. Especially when he had been the first to receive the warning that the Priestess was in danger of being ravished. She had barely escaped. Yet she ended up crying over the remains of a useless, sexually-deprived village of dogs.

Itachi wondered whether the Hyuuga clan was as strict as it displayed itself. Surely, if Hinata grew up in a prestigious ninja clan, she would have been pressured to become ruthless. If not in the battlefield, at least her personal character should have become so.

Memories of his own clan crossed his thoughts, and an old burn revived. His parents. His father — he had told his firstborn to put his full effort into everything. His delight with Itachi's genius had been beyond words.

And then, one day, it had been decided. Kill or be killed.

Now Itachi could barely remember the thoughts he had during the Uchiha Massacre. Just as much as that village he had just razed to the ground. The foreign blond creature, Minoru, had obviously been disgusted with Itachi's plan. The medic-nin Sakura had nearly cried in front of him. But Itachi did it without second thought.

"Yo, Itachi!"

The Sharingan-user looked up. A large figure with black wings flew above him. "So, aren't you going to thank me for the warning?" asked the tengu. "We won't have to go through that hassle of switching the Priestess again."

Itachi answered him with silence.

Were beaks flexible, the bird-headed youkai would have frowned. "I saw what you did to that village from above, though." He clicked his mouth in annoyance. "Saving the Priestess of Souls is one thing. But did you have to do all that junk near my friends' resting place? I'm the only one still living of the Four Tengu, damn it."

"The humans were polluting the place anyway." Itachi balanced on a jagged rock, and then kicked off its side before he fell. "It's not like they listened to _you_."

"Itachi, you're now my only worshipper," the tengu said with sorrow.

Itachi's face remained blank. "I am no such thing."

The youkai laughed. "I was just kidding! No, you have faith in nothing, except _maybe _your own abilities." He thought for a moment. "Did you at least tell the Priestess what she's going to be facing? I mean, the Dragon King is trying to collect as much spiritual energy as he can..."

"The little Hyuuga is not going to face Him," Itachi said. "It will be that creature Minoru, and I in the end, if anything. If that Priestess is stubborn, we can use Haruno to go against her."

* * *

Matsumitsu floated down from the damp and moldy ceiling. As he fell, he looked at his reflection in the crystal obelisk. There was the left arm, spinning slowly.

'That pink-haired bitch,' the carpenter thought in anger. 'What was she, anyway? Her spiritual energy looked human, but it was different when she let off that attack...'

"What a number you received, Matsumitsu."

The carpenter looked down. Below stood a silver-haired man, a smile of amusement on his face.

"Keh! This is nothing." Matsumitsu's feet touched the wet floor.

His leader suddenly grabbed his floating arm, and roughly stuck it on the raw wound. The carpenter screamed from the onslaught of pain. The nerves were renewing themselves, and now violently reacted to the electricity that flowed from the other man.

After ten seconds of the treatment, Matsumitsu dropped to the ground. He clutched his renewed shoulder. Neither wet meat nor scar was left.

"There," the silver-haired man soothed. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?"

"That jump-start healing hurts like hellfire," Matsumitsu grumbled.

"Ah, but you brought some work that must be done within the next day. Which involves my most recent offspring."

The carpenter sighed. "You certainly are the Ryuu no Ou. As the saying goes, 'The Dragon King sees everything.' " He untied the twisted cloth from his waist. "It's not my fault for what you're gonna see, though. Some human girl with rosy hair did it."

Matsumitsu tossed the sheet loose, letting it flutter to the ground. He yanked it up when it barely touched the floor, revealing two halves of a platinum-haired boy. "I delivered your son, just as you asked," he spat. "Although, he probably wouldn't be much use to you."

The leader narrowed his silver eyes at the two halves. "He's not dead yet." He turned to Matsumitsu. "Fix him."

"Whaaat? I have better things to do than revive a hanyou..." Matsumitsu caught the glare from the Dragon King. "Okay, okay. I'll do it in a snap. I'm gonna get a cart, though, it's too much energy to put him back in the sheet." The carpenter disappeared into the next hallway.

The Ryuu no Ou knelt down to Tetsu's body. He bit one of his long, slender fingers. A drop of silver blood seeped out, shining like liquid mercury. He traced the finger over Tetsu's forehead. The liquid smeared.

Tetsu's eyes slowly opened. A man with long, silver hair looked at him.

"Do you recognize me?" asked the Dragon King.

Tetsu's blue eyes looked away. His vision trailed onto his chest, the flesh ending in a diagonal cut. Tetsu's clouded thoughts of Hinata made him indifferent to what state his body was in.

"I asked, do you recognize me."

Tetsu glanced at him. He briefly remembered this silver-haired man in a number of dreams. He gave a slow nod.

"You probably already see how we're related." The silver-haired man chuckled at Tetsu's upset expression. "Don't worry. Your mother was still human. She's at peace now."

Tetsu blinked. He turned his head, so his face would not show to this strange man — his blood father, really. A tear of frustration escaped one of his eyes.

"I know what your mother asked you to do." The Dragon King put a hand on his son's forehead. "A normal youkai would have done it without being asked. But as you're a hanyou, you..." He paused. "No matter. You can easily redeem yourself. All you have to do is hate the girl who rejected you."

"I'll think as I please," Tetsu muttered. If his body were whole, he would have rolled over, giving his blood father a view of his back.

"If that's not enough, also think of the village," the Dragon King mused. "They had a half-human, half-youkai protecting them, and how did they thank you?" He smiled at Tetsu's growing frustration: in his opinion, it was kind of cute. "Hate them —"

"And stop before your lines get cheesy!" Tetsu snapped. He heard Matsumitsu's cart rolling from one of the stone halls. 'Jeez, I've entered hell,' Tetsu thought. 'I'm with an overlord wannabe.'

* * *

Notes:

The rant from Potamos about killing the writer — er, evil god — is a combination of the first part of Descartes' _Meditations_ with the anime "Excel Saga". Potamos has the same voice as Excel, so it worked perfectly.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO READERS:

x

Okay, I have cleared one of the major hurdles that prevented me to be on-track with the main plot. I had been so scared of writing those scenes for months, that I had somehow lost track.

But here is a question, in which I would like concerned readers to vote on. Is this chapter too scary or too violent or ANYTHING, that I should put it up to 'M'?

I tried to keep the hard stuff as non-explicit as possible — I took the measurements from PG-13 movies such as "Hotel Rwanda" and "Memoirs of a Geisha." In my opinion, the most upsetting events that are depicted in those movies are more intense than what I put in this chapter. However, I do not know exactly how much the FictionRating system is on par with movie ratings.

Although, I must make this clear: if I move it up to an 'M', I will NEVER insert a lemon or lime. Many 'M' rating fics (but not all) are written on this site to attract readers who — surprise — seek to read about sex. This fanfic has no intention to go in that direction.

So if you're going to send a review or PM saying 'raise it up to M', and your sole reason is that you want me to write smut, you will be sorely disappointed. The language content, the level of violence, etc. will all be the same. If anything, the content will get lighter after this chapter, occasionally dipping whenever another set of super-youkai are let loose into the Naruto world.

Oh, and the obligatory last note:

x

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	43. Class Change

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

By the way, I NEVER HAVE AND NEVER WILL OWN POTAMOS. A few readers thought that she was an OC. She's a real character from the series "Wedding Peach", of which I've only read the manga.

Reading all the helpful comments, I've decided to go by my own whims in terms of ratings. The FictionRatings are not very specific. Only four people thought I should rate this up to 'M', and three of them said I should do it just to be safe. Everybody else thought I was overreacting, which I probably was. If I can find at least ten people on this site that asks me to put it up to 'M', I'll reconsider. If by some chance one person wants to report to ff headquarters, they will they also have to report the sea of 'T'-rated yaoi fanfics that are similarly 'crossing the line'. And, quite frankly, time off this site will just give me some time to study for graduate school, and maybe even edit this whole piece of junk. To like, HALF its length.

The senior year of college is evil. The scary thing is, you want to leave, yet you don't want to leave. Writing essays, taking tests, and signing up for universities and scholarships — all over again! I guess struggle is an inescapable thing of life.

And this is still rated PG-13 for language, violence, and sexual innuendo.

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 43: Class Change

* * *

"Shit," Sai breathed, looking at the black indents on Sasuke's neck. "We're going to need make-up."

Naruto and Sasuke creaked their heads in Sai's direction. "What?" Naruto asked, as if Sai had just declared he would wade in a pit of fire ants.

"MAKE-UP," Sai repeated, this time louder and more slowly. "Those black marks make Sasuke too distinct. No wonder an Oto-nin recognized him."

In Sasuke's opinion, the revival of Orochimaru's curse seal did not seem so awful an issue anymore. It was more important (to his pride, anyway) whether he would be subjugated into wearing rouge. "I'll show you distinct," the avenger hissed.

Two seconds later, Sai was making gagging sounds.

Naruto tried to pry Sasuke's hands off the throat of the ANBU-member. "Sasuke, let go — he was _kidding_!" The blond discovered that his best friend's grip was like steel. "If you give into his taunts, you're lowering yourself to his level!"

Hearing Naruto's logic made Sasuke snap out of it. He loosened his hold on Sai, and then pushed him away.

Rubbing his throat, Sai gave a wry smile towards his teammates. It was hard to tell whether it was intended to mock Sasuke, or thank Naruto.

"Back to the inn?" Sai suggested.

* * *

Naruto felt a shudder go up his back every time he looked at the black marks. He sat watch over Sasuke in the inn with a lit wicker nearby, observing any progress in the seal.

Sasuke rolled over. "Staring at it won't help."

"You want Sai watching over you instead?" Naruto asked. Sai slept in a futon only several meters away from them.

"No." Sasuke did not want to talk to the ANBU-member, much less look at him. 'Kill him in his sleep, NOW!' the foreign voice screamed. 'He deserves it after what he said to you!'

Sasuke began to grow drowsy. Sai's annoying comments faded from his thoughts as he curled up, finding warmth in the blanket.

"Keep the seal visible, Sasuke," muttered Naruto. "I have to keep watch on it."

"Shut up." Sasuke shifted anyway. He felt immediately cold and awake as the air hit his neck. Stupid Sai for suggesting make-up. Stupid Naruto for worrying about him.

In the next three minutes, there was an agonizing silence. Well, agonizing for Naruto. He had never gone this long in Sasuke's company without either talking or fighting. "Um, Sasuke?"

Sasuke inwardly sighed. Any calmness around Naruto was short-lived. "What?"

"Why weren't you affected by the girls?" Naruto sweated as Sasuke gave him a confused look. His best friend had already forgotten. "You know. The dancers."

The raven-haired shinobi looked away. "I had to go to the local joint several times in the Hidden Sound," he mustered in as dispassionate a voice as possible. "Orochimaru made me go. He said he wanted my kids to grow up there."

"He wanted your kids to grow up in a strip joint?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"In the village," Sasuke corrected, mentally shuddering at Naruto's suggestion. The stoic part of him was asking why at all he told Naruto this stuff. The frustration of recent events made him want to spew all of it out — even the events in the Hidden Sound that ranged from the ridiculous, to the obscene. He never had a chance to tell Sakura (or never took the chance). "Apparently," Sasuke said with an uncomfortable cough, "Orochimaru thought I wouldn't mind reviving the Uchiha clan in that village."

"So Orochimaru wanted you to get... experienced," Naruto finished. So this was what a real 'guy-talk' was. It even looked like Sasuke was into it, even if his face expressed otherwise. Curiosity and hormones demanded that two teenage guys have a serious conversation like this at least once. "Um," Naruto mumbled, "So... did you ever—?"

"What?" Sasuke asked in a grumble.

Naruto scratched his warm cheek, double-checking whether Sai was still sleeping. "You know."

Sasuke decided this was the end of 'guy-talk'. To stop this nonsense, he needed a verbal barricade: something so upsetting and revolting that would make even Naruto clam up. "Orochimaru sent a prostitute to my room when I turned fourteen," Sasuke said in an even tone.

Naruto's eyes bulged. "SERIOUSLY?"

Sasuke inwardly groaned. Damn. He had forgotten that almost nothing perverted would deter Naruto's interest. "I threw her out."

"Man, I can't tell whether that's cool or just sick," Naruto rambled on. "So your first was with a —"

"I threw her out," Sasuke repeated, wondering if Naruto had heard the first time. "So nothing happened." Then came the Uchiha-patented glare.

"Oh. Okay." The blond ninja looked down, and resumed the task of reading a scroll. 'Aw, man!' Naruto whined inside. 'And I thought he actually knew something of adult experiences! I guess he's a virgin like me...'

Sasuke rolled over. That conversation had been embarrassing, he decided. 'Oh, come on,' the foreign voice commented with an unseen sneer. 'The only reason why you tossed out that ho' was because you didn't even know what to DO with her!'

Naruto looked up from his study material. Something hit him. He looked at the patient at his feet. "Wait, Sasuke," said Naruto with suspicion, "Was it possible that you didn't know how to—" The raven-haired shinobi sunk into the covers, embarrassed. Naruto had to snicker at the response. "Ah, well, fourteen is a bit too early. Growing up with your own kids doesn't sound too fun." He dug into his backpack, and pulled a booklet out. "Here you go. It'll be a long trip, so you'd probably want something to read."

Sasuke turned away from the offered copy of Icha Icha Paradise. "NO." He did not care if Kakashi dubbed it 'a classic', or that it topped off the bestseller list for months. The great Uchiha Sasuke had better things to concentrate on.

"Believe me, this is the lightest volume of all the trash the perverted hermit wrote," Naruto said, poking the book's corner into the patient's cheek. "You know you want to read it. The only reason you refused Kakashi's copy was because he offered it to you when you were twelve. You're almost eighteen now."

Sasuke swatted the book away. "I have the same objectives as when I was twelve." Was it just him, or was he talking more than necessary? Probably because Naruto was going where angels feared to tread.

A grumpy moan interrupted them. The exchange between Naruto and Sasuke had made their third teammate stir. "Fool around when we're camping in separate tents, okay?" Sai mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "Our neighbors in this inn won't appreciate it if you do it here." He dropped back to sleep.

'Bastard,' Naruto thought, a vein emerging from his neck. He yawned as he kept reading a scroll.

"Aren't you going to sleep?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto shook his head. "I have to monitor any changes in your curse seal, remember? Don't worry; I'll wake you if anything happens."

'Or pound me into the floor if I turn insane,' thought Sasuke. The raven-haired teenager felt his eyelids begin to droop. Hopelessness began to creep into him. He vaguely remembered something the Sound Four once told him. If Sasuke jumped into the second level of the curse seal without preparing his body with a Seishingan — literally, a 'sobered heart pill' — the seal would kill him. For good.

He wondered whether that risk came again if the damn mark disappeared for several years, and then decided to revive itself. Would Naruto want to know about that 'death by chakra' detail?

Sasuke weakly curled up in the blanket.

Naruto waited for Sasuke's breathing to become slow and evenly paced. After slipping Icha Icha Paradise into his teammate's backpack for him to find later, Naruto looked back to the scroll he was now reading: -How to Handle Supernatural and other Freaky Conditions, by the Yondaime Hokage. Volume I-

As the hours dragged by, the blond ninja scanned through the manual for any possible relief for Sasuke's malady. Sealing demons? No. Although Naruto was aiming for that, it was too early for such a feat. Plus, Sasuke was not a demon. (Physically, anyway.) Burying demons alive — talk about cruel. Many techniques looked awful. Naruto was sure he felt the Kyuubi wince at one or two pictures.

- Kotodama: telepathic communication with other shamans. -

That sounded useful. Well, Hinata was the Priestess of Souls and could call upon good spirits to fight for her. Naruto's eyes read the description.

- Kotodama is a rare event, even among the spiritually experienced. One does not necessarily need to be shaman in order to perform this, but the main problems that one encounters are interference (random thoughts from surrounding people), distractions in the physical world (like a hot babe walking around in your room), and an absence of a second speaker (i.e., no one picking up the receiver at the other end). The last problem is the most common one of all, particularly if you yourself are not a shaman, in that all your thoughts are blurted out in the telepathic plane of existence. So, even if another shaman indeed picks up your signal, he or she may be irritated with your exclamations of "Wow! This actually works!" or "Hey, you're a sexy babe!" and promptly punt you out of the telepathic world before you even remember your reason for going there in the first place. -

Naruto raised an eyebrow. He had never known that the Fourth Hokage's writing style was so blunt.

Telepathy? For someone like him? Inconceivable. He had been the class clown in Ninja Academy, not the nerd. Then again, it was the only possibility for him to get in contact with Hinata. If he could not reach Hinata, another shaman might know of a cure to Sasuke's curse seal.

- The first step is similar to self-hypnosis. First, focus on something stationary, yet catches your eye. The flame of a lamp works well, but other objects work well if they are points of interest at a standstill. Even the light reflecting off a jewel works. -

Naruto looked around for something. Unfortunately, the inn, like all inns, had cheap lighting.

An idea struck him. Maybe contemplating the curse seal on Sasuke would provide the hypnotic focus he needed. If the mark were to spread, Naruto's hypnotic concentration would break in time to stop a possible rampage by a changed Sasuke.

The blond reread the instructions, and took a deep breath.

* * *

Sakura pushed soil over the last mound. She waved to Minoru, who stood at the foot of the hill that overlooked the burned village. He was disappearing into the hills.

Hinata sat nearby, tying two sticks of wood into makeshift crosses. "Sakura-san, why is Minoru-san go ahead of us?" Hinata asked. "He helped bury some of the villagers, but..."

"Beats me," Sakura said, sticking one cross into a grave. "Minoru-san usually isn't the type to leave ladies to handle dirty work." Her thoughts grumbled, 'Although, maybe it's because he looks down on a lot of humans...'

As she pushed in a cross to mark a new grave, Hinata felt a shiver traveled up her spine. She turned quickly around. Sure enough, Potamos was there.

The water-demon lifted up a basket of violets. "This is all I could find," she said with a pout. "And they're weeds."

Hinata stared in brief wonder. 'She picked flowers for the dead?'

Sakura clapped the dirt off her hands. "Potamos, weeds are only plants that are in the wrong place." She cupped her hand, taking half from the water-demon, and walked over to distribute them. "These are lovely."

Potamos turned around, holding out the rest of the delicate flowers to Hinata. "Hina-chan! You want some too?"

Hinata paused at the address. 'Hina-chan' was the nickname only her boyfriend used. It rang so different with a cute girl's voice, too. It reminded Hinata just how far away home was.

A look of worry crossed Potamos. "Oh, you don't wanna be called that? It sounded like it fit you, so..."

The Priestess shook her head. "No, it's all right," said Hinata. "I've been called that before." She carefully accepted a handful of violets. "Thank you."

As the last of the violets were distributed, Hinata knelt to the ground, and put her palms together quietly in prayer. She dared to glance a little to the side, and saw the other girls follow suit. Sakura was trustworthy, as Hinata had known her since Ninja Academy. But Potamos was the confusing factor. The girl was a demon, was she not? Yet she opened up to Hinata in a playful, friendly manner, and was even respectful towards the human dead.

Sakura was the first to let down her arms, and stand up. She began to step backwards from the grave. "Hinata," said the medic-nin, "how much experience as the Priestess do you have?"

The blue-haired girl raised her eyes up towards what Sakura was looking at in the sky. Something was trailing out of the black clouds above. A tornado? Hinata had never seen an actual tornado before; only through books she knew of them. A cloud thinning into a line, which was really a high-pressure tube...

Then Hinata realized that the whole sky was glittering with energy, energy that only her Sight as the Priestess could identify. Miasma. It was thin enough that Sakura and Potamos were probably unable to see exactly what it was, but the girls seemed to at least feel an anomaly.

Then, they came. It was first only one black line. Then seven. Then twenty.

Hinata swallowed. Those forms were not tornados, but youkai. She had never seen so many demons concentrated together. It was practically a wriggling swarm of dragon-tailed monsters. Their heads were those from gruesome entities, ranging from horned ogres to single-eyed imps. They fell through the sky and crashed onto a nearby hill, like a waterfall, and began to roll towards the three of them.

Hinata spun her feet on the ground, positioning herself in a defensive stance. White and black particles of the half-stone, half-earth area of the abandoned temple caked around her sandals.

Before Hinata could start walking towards the incoming swarm, Potamos and Sakura stepped in front of her. A moment of suspicion crept into the Priestess. What were they doing, sandwiching themselves between her and the demons?

She watched carefully, curiously, as Sakura pulled on her black gloves, and made a sequence of hand-seals. Hinata's Byakugan caught as a pinkish chakra within Sakura's body, training into her hands.

'Sakura-san has holy chakra.' Hinata's pale eyes opened in wonder. 'But it's not white like mine. It's pink.'

Before the Priestess could ask anything, Sakura dashed towards the incoming swarm. "Hide, Hinata!"

"Sakura-sa— AH!" Hinata felt thin, cold arms embrace her. Potamos slammed her against an old column. A circle of ice slabs crystallized around the two. Although her advanced vision allowed her to see through the chakra-pulsing walls, the situation gave her little comfort. Hinata mustered something of an incredulous stare at the water-demon. "What are you doing?"

Potamos tilted her head up to Hinata, who was at least a head taller than her. "This might be a little scary, Hina-chan, but you have to stay here."

Hinata studied the water-demon carefully. She could not help but be a little distrustful. "Are you taking me as a hostage?"

Potamos gave her a quizzical look. "Um, I think you're mistaking something." She then blinked, and slapped her palm with her hand. "Oh, right! Sacchan!" She gave one last glance to Hinata, before disappearing into a hole in the ceiling of the ice-structure. "Hina-chan, no matter what you do, protect those souls and the graves! I'll hold up these walls of ice as long as I can."

Hinata glanced around, already feeling the cold air unpleasantly tickle the inside of her chest. Protect the souls and graves? That sounded like nothing an evil being would say.

She glanced at the half-broken column behind her. It was covered in a thin, glistening layer of ice. 'All the ice here reeks with Potamos' chakra,' Hinata thought. 'I can't think it as anything but a trap.' Her fingers crossed into her family-old habit. 'Byakugan!'

Hinata screamed as a monster crashed through the ceiling; she jumped back in time to avoid the collision. The youkai wiggled up out of the ground. Hinata realized that it had no eyes, nor nose. The only feature on its head was a toothless, gaping mouth.

A chill passed her. As the creature sucked in air, it sent shivers through Hinata much more violent than what the water-demon Potamos had caused. Her white eyes faintly noticed thin, light trails of aura growing out of the soft earth nearby.

Then, Hinata saw the spheres of light. The souls of the villagers lifted out of their bodies' graves. 'Hitodama?' Hinata was alarmed. 'I thought souls could only be sucked out of living humans, not graves! They're not even supposed to show themselves in the physical world after death — unless a grudge...'

The balls of light transfigured into the human forms of the villagers. The only thing different in appearance was their bluish transparency.

The ghosts hurled themselves towards the gaping mouth of the slithery demon. "WAIT!" Hinata shouted at the floating souls. She put chakra in her legs, dashing towards the youkai before it took any more victims.

A single palm strike made it fly, crashing into and through the ice wall Potamos had constructed.

A clean stabbing sound broke Hinata out of her thoughts. Potamos came hurtling through the ceiling's new hole, and sunk an ice spear into the monster's head. The youkai gave a last twitch, and shriveled up into nothing more than a skeleton.

Potamos turned her head. "Hina-chan, are you okay?" Black blood soaked her red fairy dress, and even a few gashes were on her shoulders, indicating work by claws. "Sorry that one got in; my sense of architecture is a bit iffy."

"I-I'm fine." Hinata's eyes glanced over the chakra in Potamos' body. It was half in its intensity than it was before.

Potamos waved an arm upwards, making ice crystals frosted over the gaping hole of their 'tent'. "Youkai won't think of looking in a demonic fortress for a Priestess, would they?" she said with a grin. "Don't worry, Sacchan is being your decoy."

Hinata blinked. "Decoy?"

"Sacchan's energy right now is kind of like yours!" The water-demon made a triumphant peace sign to the Priestess. "Ever since she took that Class Change ceremony—"

"Wait a moment!" Hinata burst out, the confidence lessons from Naruto pushing her forward. "Why does Sakura-san have holy ki? I'm the Priestess of Souls; nobody else should be!"

Hinata's thoughts halted. She remembered that one kunoichi from back in the Chuunin Exams, Chie from the Hidden Waterfall. Chie had been the Priestess of Souls herself. That was, until Chie had taken a near-fatal attack by a youkai, and her guardian ghost left her.

Ever since Hinata entered the Stone Country, the ghost-child Zashiki Warashi had never appeared. And as how Sakura was working with holy chakra right now...

Hinata's breath hitched. "Is Sakura-san is the Priestess?"

Confused, Potamos rubbed her violet mane. "I thought _you_ were the Priestess of Souls, Hina-chan."

Hinata turned away. Obviously, Potamos was clueless to her worries. Even Hinata privately admitted that she probably was overreacting. Yet worry dwelt.

Comprehension dawned on Potamos. "Oh. Now I get it." The water-demon crouched down to the ground, eye-level with Hinata. "How should I say this," Potamos mumbled, "Sacchan has a bit of angelic blood running in her."

Hinata looked up. She was not sure if she heard right. "Angel?" She had thought that such beings were only mythical. Then again, all these youkai showing up...

Potamos wiggled her nose. "Oh, but Sacchan IS technically human, and grew up with you in the Hidden Leaf as one," the water demon said. "Well, anyway, because of all the demon attacks in this world, Sacchan decided to go through a Class Change."

Class Change. Hinata remembered something from the scroll that Warashi had given her.

x

Mortals who chose to enter the struggle of the immortals

Found the fork of purification and corruption —

Light is one path, Darkness another.

If you decide to join, Priestess, choose the Light.

x

Hinata swallowed. She also had read something in the ancient manuscripts of the Hyuuga clan. According to the records, a Class Change was a ceremony that changed the nature of one's aura, either towards Light or towards Darkness, so that one had a better chance of surviving battles with spiritual beings. Some people who had taken a Class Change and advanced enough, could take a second Class Change. And from historical records around twenty years ago, the Hyuuga clan suspected that Hatake Kakashi's father had secretly undergone the ceremony, due to his unique chakra color.

Hinata gulped. "So, Sakura-san chose the path of Light," she guessed correctly. "When?"

"Only last winter." Potamos let off a pout. "I didn't know why she HAD to. She had already made her own anti-demon spell several years ago."

Hinata almost sputtered. "Several years?" She could not believe it; her Byakugan had not caught anything of the sort during that time!

Then the Priestess thought back. A little after her thirteenth year, Sakura had been kidnapped from the Hidden Leaf by a strange man with a face streaked with red face paint, and overflowing with green chakra. That was what Naruto had secretly told Hinata, anyway. When Sakura finally came home, it was well over a year later.

"She studied in a different country?" asked Hinata.

"Different dimension, sweetie. She met me and Mino-chan there." Potamos had a foreboding feeling that she was telling Hinata more than Sakura would want her to, but it was too late now. Besides, as Priestess of Souls, Hinata had a right to know what kind of people her guards were. "Oh, and don't think that Sacchan is part of a rebellion against your home village or anything," Potamos quickly added. "After all, when she came back, she did almost nothing but sniff out demons and kill them. When she wasn't cooped up studying under that doctor-Hokage of yours, anyway."

A look of horror passed Hinata. Demon-slaying for three years? Alone? Hinata suddenly felt insignificantly small. To think that she had been feeling weary only half a year since taking up her new duties...

"So Sakura-san has the blood of a tenshi in her." Hinata tilted her head, making the overgrown bangs hang over her pale eyes. "How am I supposed to compete with that?"

Potamos narrowed her yellow cat-eyes. "Now just wait a minute!" exclaimed the demon, now a bit irritated. "Whoever said you're supposed to compete with Sacchan? Besides, the other parts of her DNA—"

Potamos froze: nausea had suddenly hit her. Chunks of wet ice began to hit the ground around them. The two of them looked up: the protection of demonic ice was dissolving into nothingness.

More hitodama were morphing into hungry ghosts. They were glaring at the two girls, as if daring them to ignore them.

"Ah... Mikagami-san," Hinata murmured timidly, stepping back. The specters of the dead woman and her four sons scrutinized them with their empty-looking eyes.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, POTAMOS?" Sakura's voice bellowed from the outside. "You've been in there for the past minute!"

Potamos put a hand to her chest, feeling her own chakra. She was down to one-eighth of her original strength. "Uh, oh. I'm getting low on power."

Hinata now felt nervous for a different reason. Indeed, Potamos' aura was much dimmer in her Sight. "Already?"

Potamos shrugged. "I didn't know an ice-fortress took so much energy."

"POTAMOS!" As Sakura cracked away another monster, she saw Potamos' ice fortress crumble to the ground. The forms of the water-demon and Priestess whizzed out of the falling ice blocks. So much for the plan of hiding Hinata. Sakura bared her teeth, and ran towards the two.

Hinata made her way towards dry ground, and slid into a Jyuuken stance. Leaning down, she gave a quick warning to the water-demon behind her. "Stand back, please!"

Potamos drove another spear of ice into a youkai. "What?" the water-demon called, not having fully caught every word of Hinata's mouse-like speech. "I couldn't hear y—ikes!"

The water-demon splashed away as Hinata nearly disappeared within a dome of holy aura. Hinata's fingers tacked a pressure-point onto every youkai that crowded into her, either disintegrating or pushing them back.

"WOW!" Potamos crooned as she stood at the top of a broken column nearby, watching Hinata in action. "I sure as hell wouldn't want to be caught in that. GO, HINA-CHAAAAN!"

Down below, Sakura only wordlessly tossed three youkai in the air behind her like litter.

Hinata's Byakugan caught Sakura punching a fist through the skull of one youkai, brains and all. Damn, she looked so focused and adult. The Priestess took in deep breath, and the veins around her eyes extended to her ears. 'I will not lose!' she thought in determination.

"Go, go, Hinaaaa—" the voice of Potamos trailed off. The water-demon wondered why Hinata was not reacting when a thin, snake-tailed monster flew at her from behind. Up until now, Potamos had almost thought Hinata had eyes on the back of her head. "Watch out!"

Potamos leapt upon Hinata, only to be thrust at by her glowing hand. The water-demon shrieked, tilting her head to barely avoid the attack. "Hina-chan!" Potamos whined. "What was that for?"

Hinata's white eyes then caught the nimble youkai wiggling in the air above. That was the reason Potamos had pounced on her. The Priestess flicked it away with two glowing fingers. "Thank you," Hinata murmured.

"Too early just yet!" Potamos raised her gloved hands above, and concentrated on the floating demons that consumed the ghosts like dolphins on fish. "_Sparkling Freezing Geyser._" Two spouts of water burst from the demon's hands, and hit several youkai off-course. "Not finished yet!" Potamos let off an evil smirk. "_Ice Piranhas_."

Globs of water jumped out of the mainstreams, and hardened into hideous, fanged little monsters as they hurled towards the youkai. The ice-fish sank their frozen teeth into the youkai, aiming at the faces, and let black blood spurt. The liquid dripped down in thin lines — thousands of lines.

Hinata shuddered as black droplets sprinkled overhead, dotting the ground around her. 'If this is what Potamos is like at one-tenth of her strength, I don't want to fight her!' Even spots on her shirt were hardening from the blood. When the Priestess touched her cloths with a white-glowing palm, both demon blood and stitches hissed off. Her already-shabby shirt now looked like moths had feasted upon it.

The yellow cat-eyes of Potamos turned blank for a split-second. Her ice piranha broke apart, and all of the water she sent up now hurtled down. Potamos gripped her fists, absorbing most of it back in her. Hinata only suffered a little sprinkling.

Sakura's senses tingled. Potamos' chakra was now at a dangerously low level. Half of the monsters had disappeared into dust, making way for her towards the two girls. "Potamos, Hinata! Are you all right?"

A bright flash came from where Hinata stood, making Sakura temporarily blind. The pink-haired girl guarded her eyes with the shade of her palm. The holy light was strong and warm, even a bit terrifying.

Potamos sat on the ground, a bit awestruck. Hinata steadied herself on what looked like an irregular-shaped staff. The girl had picked up a stiff tree branch, and wrapped the Yasanagi no Magatama on one end.

'She almost looks like those healers back at home,' Potamos thought. She then saw Hinata smack three youkai clean into the air with the weapon. 'Cool.'

Sakura appeared mid-air as she kicked two more youkai away from Hinata.

"Potamos, stay down!" Hinata called. The Priestess spun the wood, and hit a pressure point on another youkai using its sharper end.

"But Hina-chan," the water-demon mumbled, "It's embarrassing to have two humans protect me!"

"Making the ice castle and those fish was too much for you." Hinata whacked away three more youkai coming at her from behind, her staff briefly flashing white at the points of impact. "Thank you for protecting me," she added, "but now I can hold my own." She raised her staff, and struck another demon. By the time it flew into an old column, a remnant of the ruins, it had already turned into a skeleton.

Sakura involuntarily smiled as she punched away another monster. Hinata was a smart girl. Since it was risky for Hinata to get into close combat with things she did not know how to attack, such as ghosts, Hinata's best bet to both protect and attack would be to use a mid-range weapon, like a staff. Wrapping the holy jewel Magatama on one end made it more effective.

Potamos looked up curiously at Hinata's staff. "When did you make that thing, anyway?" Potamos asked, lying low at the ground. All the martial arts her two companions performed were powered with holy aura, something that did not suite her chemistry too well.

"This?" Hinata raised her staff, and knocked out another youkai. "I wrapped the necklace around it while you were talking. Didn't you notice?"

Potamos gave a sheepish laugh. Evidently, she had not.

"All that time I was kicking demon butt, you were talking?" Sakura fumed slightly. When her mental steam died down, which was practically immediate, she looked at Potamos with curiosity in her green eyes. "What were you two talking about, anyway?"

"Nothing important!" Potamos chimed.

Hinata spun on her toes, making a spiral of white chakra with her staff. The demons just kept on coming! And the human spirits around them were flying in confusion, blinking back and forth from a blue, spherical light to a humanoid specter. "Why are these souls coming out in hitodama-form, anyway?" Hinata cried out in frustration. "I thought they only came out like that when youkai sucked them out FRESH!"

"Hinata-san, your words have turned... stronger," Sakura commented, for lack of a better term. She decided it had to do with Naruto's influence.

Hinata was about to scream; this was her limit of crazy things happening within twenty-four hours. Then she noticed something odd about the ruins around them. In her Sight, the stones of the columns seemed to give off a light, ethereal glow.

(( "This... is the site of the Four Tengu?"

"The great birds themselves. Ah, I could tell you stories that my grandmother told me..." ))

Hinata suddenly felt warm. Her vision began to turn white. A heavenly, powerful voice shouted in the plane of her consciousness.

'The time is come — the next Priestess is finally here.'

* * *

Hinata looked around.

The ruins vanished. The monsters and ghosts vanished. Even the aura from Sakura and Hinata faded into a white background. Hinata shivered, before bravely looking upward to the source of the voice.

A figure shimmered down towards the blue-haired girl. Hinata stepped back, a little nervous.

"You poor thing. Don't be frightened." The figure transformed into that of a noblewoman in an refined, multi-colored kimono. Hair combs and beads of white jade ornamented her hair and neck. "I am Machiko, the Priestess of Souls of the time when feudal wars tore the lands. My soul has been waiting patiently over three centuries, for the next Priestess to take up my duties."

Hinata only sat, petrified.

"You are the next Priestess, are you not?" asked the exquisite woman.

"Ah... Um..." The blue-haired girl shuffled her legs. She got into position, and bowed in the elegant fashion her family had taught her. "Yes, I am. My name is Hyuuga Hinata."

"Sunshine, yes?" Machiko knelt to Hinata, and delicately lifted up her chin, examining her face. "Your eyes are strange... yet they are beautiful. Do not slouch! Showing your fear will only make you look more vulnerable, especially towards demons." She then frowned. "Where is the Yasanagi no Magatama?"

Hinata crunched her hands together in her lap, more nervous than ever. "It's currently on a staff that I... Oh!" Hinata stood up from her sitting position. "I'm sorry! I must go, there are demons right now—"

"That can wait." The former Priestess lightly pushed down on Hinata's shoulders, causing her to sit again on the ground. Although she was dressed as a noble, her open physical contact certainly did not signal it. Real nobles hardly ever touched anybody, not even their own spouses. "This is a mental plane. You could say, time stops in the physical world when you are here." Machiko gave a playful smile. "And even if you were to go back, you would have no chance against that swarm. You must become stronger."

Hinata looked sideways, feeling a bit shy.

"What's the matter?" the lady asked.

"Forgive me," Hinata murmured, "but I somehow cannot imagine you as a priestess..."

"I appear much too wealthy for one, don't I?" Machiko took off the traditional crown she wore. She examined the two golden rods sticking out sideways, with jade beads dangling on each end. "Once I sealed off the army of youkai, my lord decided I was too much of a threat to his power. It was a fear of a rebellion, that his people would follow me rather than him."

Hinata swallowed. "He... had you executed?"

Machiko shook her head. "No. He ordered me to commit seppuku." The old Priestess smiled at Hinata's pained expression. "With that, he allowed me to retain my honor. He even provided the most elaborate funeral for me, and was gracious enough to have my ashes buried near my friends."

'Most likely only to save his own soul,' Hinata thought in disgust. Although she knew the reasons behind seppuku (it was certainly preferable to the shameful fate of being tied to horses and dragged through the streets), her culture as a ninja had long declared it impractical. Life was too short. Even the Hyuuga hierarchy did not go that far, at least under how her father Hiashi directed it in his subtle way. When Hiashi's body had been demanded after he killed Hinata's attempted kidnapper, Hyuuga Hizashi had decided on his own to take his twin brother's place. It was not that Hiashi ordered him to do it, as Neji had believed for years.

Machiko sighed with the nostalgia. "My friends, the Shiten'nou... Their wings were so beautiful..." She coughed. "Enough about myself." Machiko drew up her sleeves, and loosened the layers upon layers of clothing around her neck. Adorning the hollow of her throat was a necklace, with a single fang on it. It looked similar to the fangs on the necklace of the Magatama. The old priestess put a palm on Hinata's forehead. Two choices are given before you, Hinata. It is either the Light, or the Darkness. You will still remain Priestess of Souls after this, but your consciousness will be altered."

Hinata gulped. "Could you elaborate what each path means?"

"The path of Light will cause elemental spirits to appear to you and assist you. The path of Darkness will make it easier for you to appeal to supernatural beings such as oni, tengu, or youkai to help in your battles."

Hinata shivered. That small paragraph in Warashi's scroll had not been necessary; the descriptions already indicated which one she preferred. "I'll take the path of Light, please."

"Safe choice." Machiko closed her eyes, and she began to chant. "I call upon the natural spirits living under the great sun, to recognize the burden put on the shoulders of this young woman. She is the vassal, the guide, the healer..."

Hinata's brow creased as a second aura entered her, adding to and changing her holy aura. 'I wish to save as many innocent lives as possible,' she prayed, enduring the chakra-boost. 'I wish to find Warashi-chan. I wish to help Sakura-san in her struggles, and bring her back to Sasuke-san.' A tear escaped one of her closed eyes. 'I want to see Naruto-kun again.'

The tight feeling in her chest subsided.

"Congratulations." Machiko took her hand from Hinata's forehead. "You have moved from the level of a simple priestess, to a full-fledged shaman. Open your eyes."

Hinata did as commanded. She looked at her hands. "I don't feel any different," she confessed.

"It will feel strange when you enter the heat of battle. Some time will pass before you are fully comfortable." Machiko took up Hinata's hands. "Since you have only recently undertaken the Class Change, I shall help you in purifying the area where your physical body is."

"But I don't have any instructions," Hinata said, remembering that an old Hyuuga scroll had been required when she purified the Hidden Leaf.

"My thoughts will connect to yours."

Machiko strengthened her grip on Hinata's hands, and the younger one returned it. Almost instantly, Hinata had a brief flash of when Machiko herself was in action, amidst a burning village with hordes of demons flying above. Her white eyes blinked, and she saw the youkai reflect those that were currently raining down upon her, Sakura and Potamos. Even their roars echoed together.

Hinata found herself enunciating the words perfectly with Machiko. "Reibai, sono Ni..."

* * *

A blond shrine-worker took in another gasp as he climbed the mountain.

Minoru's attempt to catch up with Itachi failed. The problem with the physique of elves — or perhaps, only in the tribe Minoru came from — was that although they could perform tasks that required quick bursts of energy, their physical stamina was lower than that of a human. In his world, it was said that elves were attracted to humans for their energy, and humans were attracted to elves for their grace. Well, of course elves were graceful; it was more comfortable for them to move slowly!

So although Minoru could do heavy work like climb mountains, even carry people piggy-bag (he had done so for Potamos and Sakura before), it could not last more than thirty minutes. If someone like Uchiha Itachi trekked through the mountain range with little rest, Minoru had already lost.

'At least elves have a higher magical reserve,' Minoru thought, comforting his bruised ego. 'Itachi should have drained his aura reserves by now, running with power in his heels like that for so long.'

The blond elf felt his knees give. He stumbled a bit, a laughable gesture among his kind. He used his bow to give slight support, like a cane.

Minoru almost fell over at what he heard the next second.

'HEEEEY! Anybody there?'

Minoru raised an eyebrow. An attempt at telepathy? It sounded like some clueless novice. The blond elf decided to mentally push the spirit out of his sphere of hearing.

'Oof!' It sounded like the source of the annoying voice had tripped or something — but immediately got up. 'Ah HA, that was a reaction!' the voice shouted in triumph. 'I know you're there. I've got questions to ask.'

Minoru shook his head. It seemed like he was dealing with the worst of enemies: an idiot. He mentally kicked said idiot.

* * *

Naruto railed back in pain. "Ow!" He glared at the figure glowing before him in the suspended plane. It could deliver a powerful kick. Thankfully, Naruto had not broken concentration. In fact, the image was sharpening, with colors, a human form, and a face...

Naruto's jaw dropped. He pointed at the green-dressed blond. "YOU!" Naruto shouted. "You're the Kusa-nin who attended the Chuunin Exams with Sakura-chan! Perfect timing, I have questions to ask you—"

"I do not understand why you of all people came here, much less how you pulled me into it," Minoru seethed, privately disturbed that he was unable to shove this human out of telepathy, "but I have nothing to say to you." The elf turned away, in a haughty manner that somewhat pissed off Naruto.

"Listen, Nee-chan," said Naruto, hoping to come off a better start, "I just want to ask a few things. I wondered whether you've seen any... spiritually-advanced people recently." He kept on resisting the urge to mention Hinata's name; this person was a foreigner, after all, and Hinata was always a target for people wishing to bring down the Hidden Leaf.

The elf-turned-shrine-worker scrutinized Naruto. "Spiritually-advanced people," Minoru said in a soft lilt, "as in, humans who have taken the first Class Change?"

Naruto stiffened. "If the Priestess of Souls went through it, yeah."

Minoru had to smile, despite the unpleasant surprise that he could not walk out of the small circle he was standing on. He set his blue eyes on the human in front of him. "You have some disturbance of energy within you."

Naruto blinked. "A disturbance?" The Kyuubi came to his mind. Naruto wondered how this person would sense it from this distance. "I'm also here for research on metaphysical spiritual crap, just so you know!"

Minoru looked disgruntled. 'Immature child,' was his impression of Naruto.

As for Naruto, he was confident. There was one paragraph in the Yondaime's manual about these mental planes.

-In the telepathic dream world, it is impossible to lie. Intentionally, anyway. That means that if you ask a question to which the shaman thinks he knows the right answer as such, and he gives you the wrong answer which he believed correct, don't blame him afterwards. (It was your fault anyway for thinking that a shaman actually knew the real meaning of life. Jeez.)-

"I have some questions to ask!" Naruto shouted. "Believe it!"

"Questions whether the telepathic plane works?" Minoru asked in a bored tone. "Now you know."

Naruto ignored the hidden taunt. "First," he said with a cough, maintaining dignity in front of what he thought was a woman, "have you or have you not seen the Priestess of Souls?"

"I have. In the Hidden Leaf."

Naruto grit his teeth. "I mean, recently, outside of the Hidden Leaf, have you seen her?"

"Yes, I have." Minoru smirked. "You have one question left."

"Huh?" Realization then struck Naruto hard. The limit of three.

-The spell is made so that a total of three questions can be asked from an available shaman. No more, no less. Three shall be the number of questions you shall ask, and the number of answers shall be three.-

"Why only three?" Naruto whined out loud. He clutched his head. "Damn it, that bastard is already going through shit..."

Minoru watched while the human took his time formulating the appropriate question. The elf's eyes pierced the wispy clouds surrounding Naruto: the image of a feverish, raven-haired teenager twisted in blankets, sweating and shivering.

'Itachi's brother.' Minoru bit his lip as he erased the picture from his mind. Although he did not hear Sasuke's voice, there was a distinct movement of lips that Minoru could read: 'Sakura.'

The blond elf narrowed his eyes. Naruto seemed to be debating which topic to spend his last question on: Hinata's whereabouts, or Sasuke's cure. It was true love versus friendship. It was a battle that never truly could be fought.

"The Priestess of Souls is safe," Minoru said.

Naruto looked up, bewildered. "But, I haven't asked the last question—"

"Quiet," Minoru ordered. "The spell you cast forces out answers for three questions. Information that I voluntarily give you does not count."

Naruto stared. 'Hey, she ain't so bad of a person,' he commented to himself.

"Your Hinata is safe," continued Minoru. "She is currently in the Stone Country—"

"Stone Country?" Naruto burst out, worried again. "She has a bounty in that country's black market for at least three million ryou, just by being a clan heiress!"

"—yet she will be escorted out safely by very reliable ninja," Minoru continued. "I cannot tell you their identities now, but you will simply have to trust me on that." He paused, letting it sink into Naruto's memory. "So, your last question?"

Naruto paused. The assurance of Hinata's safety lifted half of the heavy weight from his shoulders. He carefully thought out his third and final question. "Is there anything that can cure an Orochimaru-planted curse seal?" Naruto asked. "My friend's had it for a while. It was inactive for several years, but it broke out only recently."

Minoru stiffened. The flash of an ink-skinned figure with white hair and mangled bat wings passed his memory. That _thing_ had attacked Sakura. 'But he suffers now...'

The elf breathed. "Your friend's curse, even at its so-called 'second stage'," Minoru answered slowly, allowing Naruto's mind time to digest the information, "is an inferior form of a Class Change. More specifically, the Class Change towards Darkness."

"Inferior?" A shiver ran down Naruto's spine. Did this person mean to say that Orochimaru's curse was less powerful than another transformation?

"Inferior, in that your friend was not initially given a choice, whether or not to receive it," Minoru said. "He simply was bitten, correct?" He saw Naruto give a nod. "A baby does not choose to be born in and grow up with a particular society. It's the same case with your friend. Even if he had later accepted the seal for personal gain, he did so with an element of hopelessness." Minoru chuckled. "Besides, that curse seal was manufactured by a human. It cannot compare to the blessing of a higher mind."

"But the cure!" Naruto insisted. "I asked you what the cure to the curse is. You're sort of a shaman, right?"

"The cure for your friend," said Minoru, "would be for him to take the Class Change towards Darkness. That will allow him full control over the darkness that already resides within him." His blue eyes mirrored those of Naruto, but contrasting them with an eerie, terrifying sort of knowledge. "Do not worry so. Turning towards the Darkness does not necessarily mean one turns towards evil. The Darkness means more... the unknown. It might even be the unknown of God. But don't say that out loud, or I might get in trouble."

'Although, a second Class Change into Darkness after the first one has the risk of blackening one's heart,' Minoru thought to himself. 'Luckily, neither this child nor his friend are anywhere near that stage.'

Naruto sighed. "So, now all I need to do is get him through this Class Change ceremony." Which he had no idea how to go about. He could not even ask this person before him; he used up the third question. Naruto saw his limbs grow more transparent against the clouds around him.

"Find a godlike artifact, such as a Sacred Treasure, and stand in a sacred area to perform the Class Change," Minoru said, quickening his speech as the environment grew more opaque. "Hold the object while praying, or at least be near it; it will give you the option of walking towards either the Light or the Darkness. Just remember that you are—"

Naruto opened his eyes. The shaman was gone, and so had the cloudy landscape. He was back in the room of the inn, sitting near the futon in which Sasuke slept.

Naruto stretched out his arms. So, a Sacred Treasure or any other godlike artifact was needed. 'Damn, if I had known that while Hinata was around, we could have gone through the Class Change in a jiffy.'

He looked at the patient near his feet. His best friend had fallen asleep. 'You're going to be fine, Sasuke. And we'll find Hinata and Sakura. I'll make sure of it.'

* * *

Hinata's eyes blinked open. Two figures looked at her from above.

"Hina-chan!" Potamos latched her arms around the small girl. "We were so worried; we thought you were dead!"

The blue-haired girl was confused. "...What happened?" Hinata asked. "Why am I on the ground?"

Sakura supported her as she wobbled back on her feet.

Hinata felt Sakura's hand reach the juncture between her neck and back of the skull, and begin to massage several knots. "You were standing between the main four columns of the old temple," Sakura said, "and the structure began to glow. Before we knew it, you were floating upward. Then, white chakra just... burst out of you." She let off a whistle of concealed admiration. "All the youkai vanished."

Hinata felt a bit horrified. Getting rid of those demons was one thing, doing it while one was unconscious was quite another. The occupation of Priestess of Souls was a bit scary; being possessed by one's own holy power, voluntarily or not, made Hinata wonder if she was unintentionally putting danger on others.

And...

Goosebumps stood upon Hinata's skin as she examined the violet-haired demon in front of her. "How did you survive my attack?"

Potamos stood up, looking a bit nervous. "Hina-chan, is something wrong?"

Hinata drew the Yasanagi no Magatama from her staff, and put it back on. "Sakura-san! If my blessing went that far, how come she's undamaged?" Hinata thrust a finger at Potamos. "She was only a meter away from me when I lost consciousness!"

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "I told you, Hinata-san. Potamos is not a youkai. She's an akuma."

"That makes me no less nervous; 'akuma' has the word 'evil' in it!" Hinata burst out. It felt like needles pocked every inch of her skin when she looked at the small girl. How could she not be suspicious?

"Oh ho, looking for a fight?" Potamos purred. "You're so adorable, Miko-_sama_."

"Stop it, Potamos," Sakura ordered.

The water-demon scowled. "Stop being so cranky with other people's honest opinions, Sacchan. Honestly, I don't see why that little human girl should take up such a large responsibility." She turned her yellow cat-eyes back onto Hinata. "Aww, are you scared of me? Well, you're not the first one."

Hinata trembled. Yes, she was scared of Potamos; the strength of her magic was clearer than ever. But she also was angry, angry that a small being like that helped convince Sakura to abandon the Hidden Leaf — her parents, her friends, the Godaime Hokage, the medical staff...

"Hakke," Hinata hissed, moving into position towards Potamos, "Rokujyuuyonshou!"

Potamos screeched as one strike, then two strikes hit her. Hinata was about to hit four strikes, when something stopped her left hand.

Sakura gripped Hinata's wrist. "What's gotten into you, Hinata?" Sakura demanded. "This isn't you!"

"I... I feel awful around Potamos!" Hinata cried out.

"I feel awful around Itachi," Sakura spat, "You don't see me whining like some baby."

"That's because you've turned heartless and anal," Potamos mumbled to the side.

"What did you say?" Sakura snarled in the water-demon's direction. "How dare you!"

"Ugh!" Hinata massaged the bruise that Sakura's grip had left on her. That monstrous strength was definitely still there... Hinata then tried to remember what made her feel so irritable. She had never been so vocal in her entire life.

"C'mon! You're grown just as bad as that psycho-bitch, Angel Salvia!" Potamos shouted to Sakura.

"Keep my kendō master out of this!" the pink-haired girl retorted.

Hinata's head was spinning. 'Wait a minute... I don't even remember the words to the second purification with Machiko-sama!' Her white eyes opened. 'Could it be that I never...' Suddenly, the creeping suspicions emptied themselves out of the Priestess, like water out of a cup. 'Huh... What was I thinking about again?'

Sakura screamed in frustration. Handling an excited Potamos was too much. "Hinata, what in the world were you thinking, turning Potamos on like that? She gets all violent and horny at the sight of blood!"

That comment made Hinata feel more than uncomfortable. Especially when Potamos turned into a puddle of water, streamed past her feet, and formed again to her humanoid self against Hinata's back. Her red, gloved hands were inching towards dangerous territory. "What, Sacchan?" Potamos murmured, her pink lips near Hinata's right ear, "Are you jealous that Hina-chan is taking my attention away from you?" Sakura sweated as she watched the scene.

"Get away from me!" Hinata screamed, throwing off Potamos with a Kaiten. The Priestess did not stop there: she grabbed the water-demon by the neck, and slammed her against a column.

"Hinata!" Sakura shouted. She was afraid to even draw her katana to make her let go of the demon; she had never seen the Hyuuga so frightening and serious. Did the Class Change towards the Light turn sweet people into grand inquisitors?

Potamos let off a painful grin as Hinata's touch burned her throat. She could already see the water of her body float away in an agonizing continuous hiss. "If this is truly what you are, Priestess, then I dare you to kill me," Potamos egged. "I am a demon, after all."

Hinata stilled. Her grip loosened for a moment.

Sakura swallowed. "Hinata, it's time to let go. Or else."

Hinata glanced towards Sakura. She then tilted her head towards the column. "Then you better draw that out now, Sakura-san."

Sakura moved her thumb. The katana clicked out of the scabbard.

* * *

Notes:

I forgot to explain the difference between youkai and akuma. "Youkai" are traditional Japanese demons of nature, which can be either good or evil (but there are usually feared because of the chaos they make). Demons in the series "Inuyasha", for example, are definitely youkai. "Akuma" are demons that are closer to Western tradition, and are almost always evil. (The kanji "aku" in the word literally is 'evil'.) In fantasy-genre anime with settings that are not Japanese, one often hears demons referred to as "akuma".

"Class Change" - I got this idea from an old source, the RPG Seiken Densetsu 3.

"kotodama" - means 'soul of language'. In the series "Mahoujin Guruguru", translators call it 'telepathy'. It also shows up in "Flame of Recca" as a weapon that creates illusions according to the owner's speech.

"Shiten'nou" - the Four Heavenly Kings, guardians to the Buddha in mythology. They are often shown as ferocious-looking warriors in temples. In the manga and anime series "Sailor Moon", they are shown as sexy warriors (or 'generals', as the dub calls them).

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	44. Reunion

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 44: Reunion

* * *

Sakura drew her sword. "Hinata..."

Hinata kept her stance, holding Potamos by the throat.

Sakura closed in. Then, the pink-haired girl slashed upward. "Kai!" Sakura shouted. The sword briefly glinted a light blue as it cut through the air. The atmosphere wavered a bit, like a disturbance created in water.

Potamos water-demon lifted an arm out of Hinata's shadow, and shot a blast of water towards the rip. The fabric of illusion tore apart, revealing hundreds of small demons flying above, like an angry colony of wasps. "Go, now!" Potamos hissed.

Hinata did not need telling twice. She disappeared with chakra in her feet. The next second, she was running up the tallest broken column of the old temple. The column seemed to glow with a holy energy; any of the small demons that even so much as brushed by a column disintegrated in the air. Therefore, Hinata's best choice of defense and source of holy energy would be physical contact with it.

Sakura looked up at what her blade had pierced: a ball of squirming tentacles. "An illusionary demon?" Sakura guessed. "Probably with the ability of mood-manipulation. You cloaked yourself and the other youkai with a genjutsu, and then cast a mood-altering spell on us to keep us from suspecting."

A gurgling voice came from the mass. "I-impossible! Mere humans... You detected me?"

"Something's always wrong when Hinata threatens someone," Sakura said. "She's the sweetest girl." The pink-haired girl looked up to the Priestess, who now was balancing on the capital of the column. "Hinata, your turn!"

Hinata put her hands together in prayer. A sphere of white light framed around her body. 'That demon can control the tempers of people,' Hinata realized. 'If Potamos hadn't alerted me through her supposed-taunt that something was wrong, I might never have guessed — I might even have killed Potamos.'

She calmed her heart, and concentrated. The column under her began to glow white, as did its three other companions. Sakura patiently stood in the midst of the holy square below, holding up the squirming mass on the end of her katana.

"How rude." Machiko's voice echoed. The Priestess of Souls of three centuries past appeared, a ghost with flaring pastel colors before the captive youkai. "You interrupted me during an important lesson with the new Priestess," Machiko said. "Now you must receive due punishment." Her wispy form leaned over Hinata's shoulder. "May I?"

Hinata paused for a moment, wondering what exactly Machiko was asking permission for. It then hit her, and Hinata gave a curt nod. "Go ahead, Machiko-sama."

With that approval, the spirit threw itself into Hinata's body.

"Hi-Hinata!" Sakura was slightly in shock. 'I can't believed it!' she thought. 'That girl _actually_ allowed herself to be possessed!'

Hinata's eyes shot open. It looked like her pale irises had merged with the surrounding white. Sakura took a cautious step backward.

"It's alright, Sakura-san," Hinata intoned in a calm voice. "I'm just sharing my body for a moment, since Machiko-sama knows the spell." She raised her hands upward to the swarm. The dead with the living, the experienced with the novice, the two chanted the spell together.

"Reibai, sono Ni: Shisha e no Chinkonkyoku!" (Psychic Medium the Second: Requiem to the Dead)

Ribbons of white transferred from column to column. A white, glowing circle trailed around the demon as Sakura held it in place. Hinata gasped as Machiko's ghost ejected from her body. Although it had only been a partial-possession, holding that state of mind was a bit painful.

'Holy shit,' Sakura thought as her senses drowned in white ki.

Several meters away, a buoyant Potamos shielded her eyes from the sky-high column of white light. 'She's pretty good, especially right after going through the Class Change,' the violet-haired girl decided. 'If Hina-chan got the Yasanagi no Magatama into its complete form, her spirit power might become inconceivable.'

As soon as the light began to die down, Sakura noticed that the Priestess — the newer one — looked a bit queasy. Sakura ran up the column, and caught the Hinata just as she was about to tilt. Sakura made a carefully-balanced skid downward with her arms full of the precious cargo. Her leg landed perpendicular to the ground, jolting their fall.

"Youch," Potamos muttered at the position.

Hinata quickly got off Sakura, before the medic-nin's knee held her weight any longer. "I-I'm sorry!" Hinata gave a short bow. "Thank you for catching me, Sakura-san..."

Sakura grimaced as she slid her other leg to the ground. "No problem." Feeling that she was once again vertical, she looked upward to the sky. "What happened to the other demons?"

"Retreating," said Potamos, pointing her finger in the direction. Sure enough, the youkai that had survived the three girls' attacks were now fleeing back to the heavens. Their forms disappeared along with the dark cloud they buried themselves in.

Hinata put a hand to her forehead. She felt short of breath, and something of a migraine was there.

"Headache?" Potamos asked. "Aftereffects of a Class Change. Sacchan went through that too." The water-demon up her right hand with a cool aura. Her red glove received a thin layer of frozen ice crystals, and she placed it on Hinata's sweating forehead. "Feel better?"

The Hyuuga nodded weakly. Hinata then glanced around at the hitodama floating around them. "Why are the souls of the villagers still here?"

Machiko read her concerned expression. "I think some exchange of words must be done."

Sakura and Potamos only swallowed as they looked at the waiflike specter. Even though she was a dead Priestess of Souls, Machiko's image retained the beauty of a courtly lady. Hinata only blinked, confused.

"Give them their last rites," Machiko instructed. "Thank them, and bid them farewell." The ghost then turned her head Sakura and Potamos, her lucent gaze hardening a bit. "As should you two girls."

"Why?" Potamos griped. A frown came from the old Priestess. "Ah, I mean, I don't think I'm suitable for such a thing," Potamos said, a bit sheepish. "A water-demon, talking to the souls of dead humans?"

"And I have no right," Sakura murmured.

Machiko raised a transparent eyebrow. "You had freed them," Machiko reasoned. "That man who slaughtered the villagers... you had no power over him anyway. Am I correct?" She saw a mingled expression of regret pass Sakura, as well as a bit of annoyance from Potamos. "Yet you remained behind to give them a decent burial."

Hinata folded her hands together. She was a bit embarrassed to say a prayer aloud, so she only did it silently. She remembered as much as she could of the villagers, back when they were alive — they had good traits, and even the bad traits they had had little control over. 'Even if I did not understand you at times, thank you for taking care of me.' Hinata opened her eyes, drinking in the mosaic made by the glowing souls against the night sky. 'Rest in peace.'

The hitodama floated upward. They gave a last dance to the three girls below, before disappearing into the night sky.

"I must be going now," Machiko announced. The ghost started to float in the same direction the souls had departed.

Hinata stepped forward. "Wait, Machiko-sama!" she cried out. "Could you enter a calling contract with me — please?"

Machiko shook her head. "Even if I wanted to, it is not possible." Her image began to fade against the night sky. "I am a dead human. Not an elemental spirit."

Hinata felt more alone as Machiko's image grew fainter. Strange: she had only met the ghost ten minutes before, but she was already sad to see her leave. "Could you at least tell me a spirit nearby I could contract with?" Hinata asked. "What about the Four Tengu you worked with before?"

"The Shitennou are probably waiting for me on the other side." A smile graced Machiko's bluing lips. "They will likely scold me for lingering too long on Earth. But now that my successor has appeared with guardians of her own, I can leave without regrets." The colors of her floating clothes dimmed, blending in with the night sky. "Farewell."

There was no dramatic sound of wind, or a bright flash of light. Machiko's image only grew fainter, and fainter, until she was completely gone. The three girls were left standing, staring at the place where the ghost had recently been visible.

Hinata's white eyes turned wide for a moment. A spasm hit her body. It was incredibly painful.

The last thing she remembered was Sakura calling out her name.

* * *

"Remember: do NOT reveal the last part of this report to Uzumaki and Uchiha."

Sai nodded, and took the report from the traveling hunter-nin. The mask he wore conveniently spared him the effort to smile as the ninja walked off. However, Sai did wave.

The ANBU-member took off his mask as he walked into the village. There were a few people giving him curious glances at his armor, but continued on their way. The daimyo of the region was known for his obsession with warfare, so armor was not unusual to see. Some girls even giggled when he forced a smile their way.

He walked into an inn, left his shoes at the doorway, and proceeded to the room where dinner was being served: a wide-spaced room, with tatami-mats covering it from corner to corner. Naruto was waiting at its entrance. "Hey, over here!"

"How's Sasuke-kun doing?" the ANBU-member asked as they walked through the doorway.

"He's just fine and dandy," Naruto seethed, "as you can see with his HAREM. Illness doesn't prevent him from being a prick." He gestured to their saved table, where Sasuke had managed to attract a group of five young women.

Sasuke inhaled sharply as one girl rubbed a knot in his back. Although he usually did not like women (or men) crowding him, he could tolerate attention in the forms of back massages, or extra helpings of food. It was not his fault that the young women here were acting more pathetic than the fangirls did in his youth. A certain sensation of power came with it, too.

Sasuke leaned towards one girl's ear, and whispered something. She blushed furiously, and laughed, refilling his teacup.

"What is Sasuke-kun doing?" Sai asked.

Naruto sighed. "He's been giving the concept of 'flirting' a try."

Sai's brow furrowed. "Flirting."

Naruto paused. It took him a while to realize that it was not disapproval in Sai's voice, but simply cluelessness. "Flirting means to talk in an amorous way. You know, flatter with compliments, give suggestive offers."

"Oh." Sai looked deep in thought, almost like a scholar. After all, the most human contact he knew about, he could only witness through ANBU missions. The concept of personal relations outside of duty, he only knew from social self-help books. And faint memories. "Then I guess what I'm going to do will ruin his mood," Sai muttered, walking over to the table.

Sasuke shoved away a girl in a loose-hanging kimono, making her shriek. Sai caught her, and then also threw her out of the way.

Naruto caught the small female. "Are you guys _brothers_?" he shot to his less-than-chivalrous teammates. "You can't throw a girl!"

The blond shinobi then felt a shiver travel up his spine. Something was grabbing his backside. More specifically, the 'damsel' he had rescued from falling flat on the floor. "You're such a gentleman," she moaned against Naruto, making his hairs stand up like those of a threatened cat.

"Okay, that's enough," Naruto said calmly, his heart pounding from mixed confusion, flattery, and maybe a bit of arousal. He peeled off her other hand from his waist. "I've got a girlfriend."

The girl leaned into his ear. "I bet I can give you a better time."

Naruto swallowed. Desperate measures, he decided. "I'm sorry, I think you heard me wrong," he said, praying his teammates would not kill him. "I have a _boy_friend. Actually, two of them. These guys."

The girl's face froze — then fell. "All the nice ones are either taken or gay," she muttered while leaving.

'It actually worked!' Naruto marveled. Sasuke simmered quietly, while Sai only shot him a bland smile.

Sasuke glared at the rest of the women. They trailed off, one by one, getting the message. Besides, their manager would turn irritated if he saw that they were not serving their other guests. "I'll kill you in your sleep for that, Usura-tonkachi," Sasuke mumbled.

"No, you won't," Naruto chimed, with a hyena-like laugh through his teeth.

Sai opened the ANBU-report, and read the contents. His eyes flickered to his two teammates. The leader of the Roots Division had specifically told him to keep his distance from them. They were close to Tsunade, after all. And the hunter-nin had said not to reveal the last part of the report.

Sai looked at a small booklet, resting on the seat near him. A slight wind came from the open window, making the pages flip by. It stopped in the middle, with the sketch of two shinobi — one dark-haired, one blond — shaking hands. Something strange hit Sai's gut, and he shoved the booklet back in his pocket.

"The Godaime is giving us a reprimand," Sai announced, his eyes dark eyes sifting through the long letter. "She says never to pull this crap twice, or she'll be forced to call us missing..."

"Tell us what we don't know," Naruto said in a bored tone.

Sai gave a hint of a smirk. "As you wish. I'll skip over the drab material." He then sat there, reading silently.

An impatient Naruto snatched the letter away from Sai's hands. Sai neither attempted to dodge nor take it back. Sasuke tapped his finger on the low table as Naruto studied the report, the seconds ticking by. "Well?"

"Big... snake... circle?" Naruto's brow wrinkled as he studied the paper. "What's that?"

The words clicked in Sasuke's mind. The raven-haired ninja snatched the paper from Naruto, and looked at its contents.

"Those characters are read as 'Orochimaru'," Sai articulated to the blond. "Learn your kanji better, Dickless Wonder. At least know how the names of your enemies are written."

"I know kanji just fine!" Naruto snapped at Sai. "I just hate archaic readings!"

"The perverted bastard is in this country." Sasuke crushed the paper in his hands. "Towards the Sesshou-seki."

Naruto blinked. "The Sesshou-seki?"

"You talk as if you're familiar with it, Sasuke-kun." Sai began doodling on a sketchbook. "Spill."

Sasuke shifted his eyes on the vase of flowers sitting on the table. "Orochimaru once mentioned it in his talks with Kabuto," Sasuke said. "That the Sesshou-seki bestowed power on those who could find it." The Uchiha poured a cup of tea for himself, and sipped. "Apparently, Orochimaru tried to search for it in his youth."

Naruto mulled over his thoughts. The Sesshou-seki... Would the Kyuubi know of such a thing?

"Is that all?" Sai asked.

Naruto knocked his own forehead. "Oh, I remember now! The Sesshou-seki is a legendary stone that holds the spirit of a fox-demon. Anybody who touches it dies."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Where did you learn that?"

"Fairy tales," the blond shinobi replied cheerfully. His thoughts then skidded to a halt. Naruto dug into his backpack, and pulled out several scrolls.

Sai watched as Naruto sift through them. "What are you doing?"

"I remember reading about the Sesshou-seki." Naruto tossed one scroll back into the bag. "Somewhere in these..."

Sai scratched his head with a sigh. He pulled out a brush, and began to write on the air. His strokes formed the kanji for -Sesshou-seki-. The two-dimensional figures fluttered a bit, before darting towards Naruto's scrolls. The word swam, unseen, through each roll of paper, now and then leaping from one scroll to the next.

Finally, the search halted. One of the scrolls glowed red. Sai picked it up, and unraveled it. Naruto's jaw dropped as Sai allowed its end to drop, causing the scroll to trail across the room. "That's the scroll written by the Yondaime Hokage!" Naruto whined. "Be careful with it, jeez!"

Sai's painted words floated in the air above one section of the scroll. The three ninja crowded together to read the text.

-It is believed that a sacred space required for a Class Change, is almost impossible to find around human habitation. People who go out into the wilderness don't have that much luck, either. And even if one arrives to a place successfully, it may just be the wrong season for doing such a ceremony: a world that does not need humans to have a Class Change will not offer a place to do it. From documents written by monks and priestesses, these are the rumored places where one can perform a Class Change: the Tower in the middle of the Forest of Death, the Castle of the Snow Woman, the Temple of the Four Tengu, and the Grounds of the Sesshou-seki.-

'How convenient,' Naruto inwardly grumbled. 'The Sesshou-seki could either help Sasuke, or kill us all.' Naruto then fixed a stare on Sai. "Well, lead the way."

Sai's smiling expression now looked frozen. "What?"

"You're part of the ANBU," Naruto reasoned. "You've gotta have some knowledge of where it is, if Orochimaru was crazy about it in his kiddy times."

Sweat began to form on Sai's scalp. This 'reveal information because it feels right' plan seemed to have gone further than he had calculated. "No," Sai stated. "Even if I did know, why would I—"

"Come ON!" Naruto hooked an arm over Sai's neck, and gave him a noogie. "You weren't even supposed to give an official ANBU-report to lowly chuunin like us — it proves that you already see us as friends! You want to TRUST us!"

Sasuke harrumphed. Sai looked confused, and perhaps a bit embarrassed.

"Let's go snake-hunting in the morning! And study rock formations!" Naruto dragged Sai by the shoulders through the hotel hallways, singing a warbled improvised melody. "We're good friends, such gooooood friends!"

"Stop it," Sai and Sasuke muttered in unison.

"Goooood friends!" A few shouts from the rooms above, confirmed that at least half the inn believed the trio to be intoxicated. 'Mission Look Harmless,' Naruto thought, 'Complete.'

* * *

"Hope for the best; expect the worst."

* * *

Hinata woke up in a soft, clean futon. She sat up carefully. She looked down, and saw that her body was dressed in a brown yukata. Déjà vu.

For a few minutes, she felt too tired to even sit up. Eventually the door slid open, revealing Minoru carrying a tray. His white-and-blue Shinto robes for male apprentices looked newly washed and dried. He walked over to Hinata, and set the food at her bedside. The blond only smiled when she immediately picked up the chopsticks, and dug into the bowl of rice like a hungry animal.

Hinata only slowed down when she heard herself actually slurp the miso soup. She lowered the bowl. Was she not obliged to at least yell at him for the incident in the village? And...

The blue-haired girl turned to him. "Did you — did you change me?" Hinata tried to make an angry tone of voice, failing miserably. If anything, she was terribly embarrassed.

Minoru shook his head. "No. After Sakura-san and Potamos transported you here, they bathed you, dressed you, and tucked you in bed." He gave her a coy smile. "What, did you wish for me to do so?"

"N-no!" Hinata cried out, slightly indignant. Her eyes fell back on the food. She continued to eat, but this time with a straighter back and more delicate sips. "Where is Sakura-san and Potamos?"

"They left yesterday," the blond said. "They will look for the other two Sacred Treasures."

A clump of rice halted in the air, balanced by Hinata's chopsticks. "Yesterday?"

"You have been asleep for at least eighteen hours, Priestess."

Hinata's mind slowly absorbed this information. She had been out for that long? No wonder she felt so dehydrated and hungry. But why did Sakura leave her here, especially with a _man_? Sakura had been angry enough with Tetsu to slay him, after all.

Minoru picked up Hinata's empty tray. "I will fetch you a second helping."

"I don't want anymore food," Hinata lied. "You'll probably drug it." Her inner thoughts marveled at how unladylike that was.

"Then why did you consume the first tray with such vigor?" Minoru chuckled at her flushed face. He then knelt down, eye-level with her. "You are not a captive here, Priestess. We are giving you a temporary haven, in case another horde of demons decide to raid attacks on humans in this area. Sakura-san made it clear to me that she wanted you safe, and reunited with your beloved."

Hinata felt something warm drip down her cheek. She buried her face in her hands.

Minoru looked away, his long fingers combing his wavy hair. "You miss Naruto."

Hinata let the tears flow in silence. She wanted to go to another subject. "The youkai... they had been planning to attack the humans of that village. Hadn't they?" Hinata scrubbed her face, hoping that it would quell the innate urge in her to bawl. "That's why you permitted such a thing..."

"If you imply that I enjoyed such an action, you are mistaken." Minoru poured a cup of tea, and set it before Hinata. "Itachi had contact with a tengu. The creature found out that a demon army was opening a portal above that village. Naturally, their main objective was you."

Hinata felt her breath catch in her throat. "Me?"

"We calculated that if you sensed the portal, you would Class Change in time to defeat the army. Especially when the village was located so near the Temple of the Four Tengu." Minoru looked down. "But your Class Change never happened. We realized our mistake when we arrived, right before the portal was scheduled to open. Itachi and I came up with a last-minute plan, to free the souls of the villagers and confuse the youkai. Sakura-san and Potamos would give you backup."

"But to wipe out the people," Hinata choked out, "that's awful..."

Minoru poured another cup of tea. "We had no other choice." He sipped, and let the liquid rest on his tongue, enjoying the bitterness. The elf swallowed. "Did you know, Priestess? Demons can draw human souls out of bodies at ridiculously high speeds. After twenty minutes in their stomachs, the souls simply... cease to exist." Minoru lowered his cup. "Are you still upset with me?"

Hinata only rolled to her side. In the sheets, she took the Yasanagi no Magatama from her neck, and examined it. Its crystal was so clear and radiant, filled with healing powers that had only multiplied when she advanced to a shaman. Ironic that its power attracted misfortune in the form of demons attacks.

Hinata hiccupped. She whispered something meekly to the blond.

Reading her inner needs, Minoru pointed to the sliding door. "The latrine is the small outhouse at the end of the courtyard." Hinata nodded, and ambled her way out of the futon and towards the shrine's bathroom.

When Hinata came back, her cheeks were still flushed. She saw that Minoru had left a second tray of food. Feeling weak, tired, and still hungry, she set herself down and continued to eat, although more slowly than on her first helping. Minoru had left the room, probably to give her a little time alone to think things over. She noticed that the window was open, and several morning glories were in bloom.

Hinata looked around, studying the complex. Her Byakugan caught the priest of the temple meditating at a fire. There was also a garden. Hinata could identify potatoes, squash and various vegetables. In a separate shrubbery, delicate herbs were sprouting. When Minoru walked pass the herbs, the Priestess swore that her Byakugan caught them growing at least a millimeter.

At the entrance of the main shrine was the purification through to wash one's hands and mouth, as well as the board for hanging up ema — wooden plates with wishes written on by visitors.

The entrance itself had a pair of animal-shaped statues. Hinata pushed her Byakugan further, and saw that they were specifically komainu, statues in the shape of dogs or lions that guarded the sacred area. They were actually a bit cute, Hinata thought.

That was, until one of them appeared to move.

Hinata almost fell back in her bed as a humanoid form drew itself out from behind the komainu.

"Minoru-san!" Hinata practically flew out of the room, and stumbled into a set of geta-sandals before running towards the blond shrine attendant.

"It smells," Minoru commented. He turned around, and saw the Priestess nearly out of breath. "My, aren't you eager to already start."

"There's... Minoru-san, the komainu at the entrance..." Hinata was beginning to hyperventilate. "It's..."

"YOU! UGLY WOMAN!"

Hinata and Minoru looked up at the source of the new voice. A young man stood on the roof of the main shrine. His attire screamed tribal; strips of fur decorated his limbs, and dotting his torso were random sections of reddish armor, as if the pieces had been gleaned off from war booty.

Hinata gulped, studying the apparition. He was a youkai, she could tell. What else would that furry tail suggest? 'He looks a bit like Kiba-kun,' the Priestess thought.

"I was talking to you!" the demon shouted at Hinata. "Jeez, why are humans' reactions so slow?" A tile underneath his foot gave way. "Ah... woah!"

The demon slipped. Hinata shut her eyes and screamed as the youkai slid down and fell from the roof. She heard a thud.

Minoru drew an arrow from his quiver. "Look away, Priestess," the elf ordered, "I shall put this dying creature out of his misery."

The lump on the ground pulled his head up from the broken stones. "Don't declare me dead so easily!" To Hinata's awe, he stood up from the thin layer of rubble, not a single broken bone in his body. He flexed his hand, his eyes upon Hinata.

The Priestess gasped as he charged at her. Her eyes caught several sparkles at his hands, and she realized that the demon's nails were long, sharp, and glowing with aura.

Hinata jumped up. The tiles of pavement shattered beneath her, with the youkai trailing her upward. She hooked her left foot towards his hand — he caught it, smirking. Hinata then stomped her right foot in his face, giving her a chance to jump off.

She stumbled backward a little, but regained her posture. "You... tried to kill me."

"Yeah, I did," the youkai snarled, cracking his knuckles. "Hand over that necklace, bitch. Or else I'll rip it from your throat."

Minoru studied the demon for a moment. He inserted his arrow back into the quiver, and turned to depart. Hinata watched in slight disbelief as the priest's apprentice walked away. 'He's not going to help me?' Minoru gave her a glance back: his blue eyes sent a chill of fear in her.

The fanged boy drew up two fists. "What a freak. He's nice enough to give us space, though." To the demon's surprise, Hinata responded with a martial arts stance of her own. "Wait... you're gonna try to fight me back?"

Hinata straightened her hands into the Jyuuken position. "If you defeat me, you can have the Yasanagi no Magatama."

The youkai bit his bottom lip. A smirk finally revealed itself. "Ah, bargaining. Well then..."

"I'm not finished!" Hinata lectured. "If you lose, you must promise a contract with me."

The youkai stared at her. "A contract," he said, deadpanned. Then, he began to laugh. "Sure, why not?" He charged at Hinata, and shot up a high kick. She performed a horizontal chop, pushing the foot away before it could hit her chin.

Hinata's eyes caught a clawed hand aiming for her abdomen. She tapped the Magatama with her index finger. White light burst from the necklace. The youkai howled at the sudden brightness, causing him to lose aim.

Hinata dropped down, and began a low spinning kick towards his furry ankles. 'There!' She then felt the front angle of her foot hit something very hard — armor beneath the fur? The blue-haired girl rolled away before a hand could grab her neck. She stepped up, and faced an onslaught of strikes. Powering up her hands with chakra, she parried each one.

"You're one of those damn Hyuuga," the beast-boy growled between punches. "My mistake for going easy on you at first — SORRY!" He stomped a foot on hers, making her wince and step back. Using this opening, the youkai let loose a second series of quick thrusts. To the normal eye, his hands were only blurring lines.

'I have to keep up!' Hinata met blow with blow, her Byakugan working to the max for every chakra vein in the youkai's hands. She then saw his fist aim at her solar plexus. Hinata did her best to catch the blow. The pain traveled through.

A cough came from Hinata, specks of blood flying out.

"Well, I did my end of the deal," the youkai muttered. "That's what you get when you face a wolf-demon."

A smile came from Hinata's blood-touched lips. "We're not done," she rasped out. With his fist still in her hands, she hit several tenketsu, with holy ki at her fingertips. She worked from his wrists, all the way up to his shoulders.

The wolf-demon stumbled back. Both arms hung loose and useless at his sides. The expression on his face was that of shock. "You..."

Hinata delicately wiped the blood from her mouth. "Me," she said, a bit of pride in her voice.

The youkai then took to his legs, and ran off, leaving a bewildered Priestess.

'He's... running?' Hinata chased after him. "Wait!" she shouted. "I won, didn't I?"

"I'm not satisfied to have it end like this!" he shot back. He then gave off a dog-like yelp when Hinata latched her arms around him, making him drag her weight. "Damn, let go of me!" The youkai morphed down, changing into a smaller and furrier version of himself. As far as he remembered, transforming back into a wolf always made it easier for him to escape humans... Oh, wait...

Hinata had to giggle a bit at the incapacitated wolf before her. His back legs were flailing, but his arms were folded up at his sides. "I paralyzed your 'front legs', remember?" A low growl came from the youkai. She picked him up: lifting up a regular wolf would have been a chore, but the creature in her arms was just a pup. "Now, grant me a contract. Or I won't release your paralysis."

"You fool," he managed to growl. "A human who has taken the path of Light can't contract with demons."

Hinata smiled. "I asked for a contract. It does not have to be from you." She looked up to the heavens. "Isn't that right, Mr. Spirit?"

The wolf's coal eyes glanced above. To his horror, a humanoid being with yellow-glowing skin appeared above them. "Oh, crap..."

"You've managed to catch my ward, Priestess." The spirit lowered his sickle, and peered down at the wolf pup. "Raiken, I must say this is a bit embarrassing. You're a guardian for my shrine, and you attack the Priestess of Souls?"

A whimper came from the pup in Hinata's arms. "But I just wanted her necklace, Ikazuchi-sama..."

With her free hand, Hinata pulled the said item past her head, and dangled it in front of the pup's eyes. "You want this, right?" She jerked it away when the wolf-demon's jaws snapped after it. Seeing the angle of his biting made Hinata smile.

"Raiken!" Ikazuchi scolded. The spirit turned to Hinata. "As my name states, I am an elemental spirit that controls lightning. I will make a contract with you, so would you please free my — wait, what are you doing?"

Hinata let the pup rest its head on her lap, while she began to unlace the necklace. It was a thin rope of silk holding it together, so untying the string without breaking it was a bit cumbersome. But she managed to unstring the beads, and let them fall in her hand. She put the bare Magatama into her sleeve, before holding the fangs and other beads out in front of the pup. "Which ones do you need, Raiken-chan?"

Ikazuchi stared in bewilderment. "Don't tell me... those fangs are his..."

"DADDY!" the youkai cried out.

* * *

Minoru finished drawing an intricate circle on the ground. He threw the chalk to the side, and placed a small bottle with brown liquid in the middle. His daily ritual of practicing medicinal alchemy was underway; he needed full concentration —

Just as he touched the alchemy circle with his chakra-glowing hands, a bittersweet, and not to mention _loud_, howl of a wolf reverberated through the temple grounds. The bottle tipped over. Instead of the brown liquid changing to a clear blue, it sloshed into something of a urine-like yellow.

"Failed," Minoru breathed as he tossed away the liquid into the bushes. He strode over to the temple area where he had left Hinata. The golden spirit floating above her was well enough. But the humanoid wolf, feeding off the mercy of the Priestess — nay, burying his crying face into Hinata's _chest_ — made the blond elf snap.

Hinata pushed away Raiken before a holy arrow could burn a hole through the wolf-demon's chest. "Minoru-san, don't hurt him!" Hinata pleaded. "I know he's a youkai, but he's a nice one!"

"Nice ones are fine; it's the mate-hungry ones that should be drawn out from the gene pool," the priest's apprentice said in a snipped tone. However, Minoru did not draw another arrow. "Well, I presume the contract is done."

"Aye," Ikazuchi said with a nod. He peered in amusement at Raiken, who was now admiring his new necklace of fangs with puppy-like adoration. "He's been alone for a long while, so getting a souvenir of his parents is something quite moving."

'A bit morbid to have the teeth of one's parents, in my opinion,' the elf commented privately. Minoru felt the spirit zap out of existence, like a strike of lightning disappearing. Minoru watched Hinata give a few parting pats on the head of the wolf-demon, now in its pup-shape, before it scampered out of the temple and into the woods. "Now that you're walking about, your instruction shall start now, Priestess."

Hinata turned to the blond elf. She stood up.

"I don't like you," she stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "But I won't let that hinder my work. I'm only going along with your plan because you seem to know what's going on."

"You are charming when you are angry." A grin of amusement was hidden behind Minoru's hand. "Too bad I am not attracted to humans." He laughed as he walked back to the living quarters, leaving a put-out Hinata behind him. "Priestess, have you ever heard of the Dragon King?"

* * *

Naruto bent over a bush, pounding a fist into his stomach.

"What are you doing?" Sai asked.

"I feel seasick," the blond groaned.

Sai checked the trees around them. "Are you sure you aren't under a genjutsu?"

"I'm not." Naruto wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was not about to reveal that the motion-sickness he felt was coming from fluctuations of his Kyuubi-senses. There was powerful aura here.

Sai glanced at Sasuke, who was walking with a strange hunch. The cursed seal was not spreading out of its original three pinwheels, so technically they had nothing to worry about — yet. "I'm going to be in trouble when the ANBU sees you guys," Sai muttered. "Two days after I get the report, and this is the result."

Sasuke knocked off bark from a nearby tree, checking that it had a thick band of sunlight on it. "Then why did you allow us to come?"

Sai scratched his cheek. "I'm guessing that only you and Naruto can really stand up against Orochimaru." He smiled at Sasuke. "And if in case the snake takes control of you again, I can kill you in that moment."

Sasuke pulled up his right sleeve: an intricate pattern of black calligraphy decorated his forearm. "This'll wear off within twelve hours, _right_?" he hissed.

"If I don't cause it to explode before then," Sai said in a grim smile. "Try not to be seduced by that snake-man in the meantime."

"Like I would." Sasuke pulled his sleeve back over the extra seal. The things he had to do to be trusted nowadays. Itachi would laugh at him.

Sasuke then froze. He lifted up his left wrist, as if yet another seal was burning underneath the sleeve.

Naruto coughed. A drop of bile had managed to go up his throat, but it did not help alleviate his nausea. "What is it, Sasuke?" he asked. "You look like Death." When a triumphant smirk broadened on Sasuke's face, the blond cocked an eyebrow. "Or, you look like Orochimaru." A look of horror passed Naruto, and he spun his head to Sai. "Hold that seal — it was a comparison, a comparison!"

Sai grinned. "I won't blow his arm off, if he shares his thoughts."

The smile of the ANBU-member as he said that so casually, made Naruto even more nervous. "Well, Sasuke?" Naruto kept his voice as even as possible. "What makes you all so grinning now? It's creeping us out."

The Uchiha drew a hand across his face, making it now difficult to tell whether he was still smirking. "Sakura's nearby."

Naruto's face turned to stone at these words. Sai only glanced around nervously, sensing the ANBU-troops closing in.

Finally, the blond shinobi let off a sigh, and pulled one of Sasuke's arms around his shoulder, preparing to escort him back to the inn. "Okay, Sasuke, I'm going to tell you now that drinking on the job is not a good idea," Naruto lectured. "Judgment skills turn into piss with that stuff..."

Sasuke violently shrugged off Naruto's arm. "I haven't touched liquor for months, Moron. I _know_ she's here." The Uchiha rolled up his left sleeve, revealing a silver band. Kanji of the In were hammered in the jewelry, and now glowing red.

Sai studied the wristband. "A tracking device? Smooth."

"Hold it," Naruto said in a low voice. "You had a tracking device on Sakura. Why didn't you tell me this?"

"It's complicated." Sasuke staggered forward. "She's towards that thicket of blue trees."

Sai drew out his sword, sheath still on. Although Sasuke's arm did not need to be demolished, it seemed now that a knocking-out was long due. There were no blue trees. "Hallucination is never a good sign," the ANBU-member said, preparing to attack.

Naruto pointed at an empty area in the middle of the forest. "Hey, blue trees really _are_ there!"

Sai lowered his sheathed sword. The delusions were now reaching Naruto? This was either a really bad sign for both his teammates, or there was something that he was overlooking. Sai squinted his eyes at the empty patch of grass. It was questionable why that gap was there at all, with sunlight bathing every inch. In a normal forest of this country, the tree branches above would have grown to absorb as much sunlight as possible, giving little for the grass beneath to grow.

Sai almost dropped his sword, when both Naruto and Sasuke walked towards the patch, and disappeared into a wavering atmosphere. "Oh, shit."

* * *

Sasuke drew in a cold breath of air. This atmosphere was thick with a strange aura. He did not see Naruto and Sai behind him anymore, although he could sense Naruto's presence better. He decided to walk further.

The bracelet on his left hand pulsed warmer. He continued, hoping with all his might that he would see what he needed.

Then, he saw it. A rounin with a green straw hat, walking through the blue atmosphere. Sasuke used his best stealth skills, and crept up. He reached out a hand.

The person turned around. Before he knew it, Sasuke found the delicate flesh of his jaw at the tip of a sharp katana. Although he would never admit it, Sasuke had not even seen the person draw the weapon. "Hey," Sasuke grunted. "Long time no see."

The black-robed figure was silent for a moment. He slowly withdrew his sword, sheathed it, and turned around. "You shouldn't be here," he intoned. "Normal mortals would die."

"Show me your face," the Uchiha ordered. "NOW. Sakura."

The samurai tilted his straw hat a bit. "I'm sorry, you must be mistaking me for someone else."

With chakra in his feet, Sasuke appeared in front of the rounin, a kunai within his grip. "Take off that stupid hat!"

Finally, an unmistakably feminine shriek erupted. The green, bowl-shaped hat dropped, as did pink locks of hair.

Sasuke stared at her.

Sakura's green eyes looked down. "Hey," she croaked out. 'That was lame,' her inner thoughts commented.

The silence between them was killing her, like it usually did.

"You recognized me," she started anew. "How?"

"The attire." Sasuke threw the kunai back in his holster with a thud. "The red glasses browned your eyes, and the thin straw hat cast a green shadow on your head, making your hair look light-brown." Sasuke did not even give a knowing smirk; his pale face was stoic. "If you were to disguise yourself without contact lenses, hair-dye, or a Henge no Jutsu, that would be it."

Sakura weakly smiled. "Correct. But you must have guessed my identity only after the Kiyomizu tournament. I was careless with Lee-san."

"Hn."

The medic-nin grit her teeth. That 'Hn' never changed. "So what are you going to do now?" Sakura asked, tightening her ponytail for a fight. "Kill me here?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Why should I? You're not that dangerous."

An odd look crossed Sakura at that comment. He dared say that, after she had put a katana at his throat by reflex? "I think I should leave."

When she disappeared in a blur, Sasuke reacted likewise. Powering up his leg muscles with chakra, he shot after her. "Hold it!" he shouted. "That area is dangerous; don't go there!"

Sakura ignored him, racing past the trees. Of course she knew it was dangerous. She was just used to these types of environments by now. She used her chakra senses to pinpoint the target. 'He'll stop following me sometime,' Sakura decided. 'Sasuke has some degree of self-preservation. I don't care if he thinks I'm insane.'

"Sakura, this is the area of the Sesshou-seki," Sasuke called after her. "GET OUT if you know what's good for you!"

The pink-haired kunoichi continued running. She performed a series of hand-seals, and cupped her hand over her mouth: she blew a cloud of rose-colored sparkles over her shoulder.

Sasuke covered his nose and mouth. Some of the dust got into his eyes. Was it some drug in the particles, or did he feel a bit more light-headed at the sight of Sakura's unbound hair? There was the possibility of a genjutsu. He charged up his Sharingan, which relieved him a bit.

Sakura saw a lake drawing closer. Her zori-sandals touched its banks.

The lake was large. Its water was a dark, murky blue, with a small island in its center. Resting on that lone patch of dry ground was a sparkling stone. Sakura squinted, and saw that a katana was thrust in the rock.

"I was worried that it would be the sword," Sakura grumbled to herself. She then froze as a phantom-like figure rose up behind her: Sasuke. "You're still here?" she stated incredulously.

"That's _my_ line." A dangerous tone slipped into his voice. "You are coming back to the village. No questions asked."

Sakura ordered herself not to punch him. "Sasuke, I am not a silly little girl who will just... obey your every whim!" she almost screeched out. "Instead of telling me to do _x_ or _y_, have you even considered WHY I do, what I do?" Instead of glaring at him directly, she glared at the air beside him. "You know nothing about me," she ended with a mumble.

"We don't have time to talk about this," Sasuke stated, although inside he was wondering why she was not shouting at him anymore. The foreign voice even mentioned it was kind of hot. Thankfully, his Reason was pushing a good item on the table. "ANBU are coming here for Orochimaru."

Any thoughts Sakura had of defending herself against more insults fizzed out. 'Orochimaru?' Her green eyes automatically darted to Sasuke's neck. Feeling something odd but familiar, she yanked down the neck of his shirt. The kunoichi felt her stomach churn at the black marks. "I... I thought this had disappeared."

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably — not to Sakura's touch; her skin against his felt warm and nostalgic — but because she looked disappointed at the sight of the cursed seal. "I don't feel his pull," Sasuke said, hoping to ease any worry she had. "It only burns at times."

Sakura's fingers brushed delicately over it. She blinked when the black marks turned slightly gray with her touch. She then felt an arm drape around her shoulder.

Sakura did the first thing that she always did when Sasuke seemed to have a hint of care for her: she grew suspicious. The pink-haired kunoichi slipped out of his arm's reach before he could perform anything concrete, whether it was to embrace her or to crush her. "I think we're losing our priorities," she stated evenly. "I've betrayed you in more ways than one anyway, so —"

It was then when a thud of chakra pushed through Sasuke. His veins felt like they were on fire. The Uchiha collapsed to his knees, pain coursing from the seal.

"Sasuke?" Sakura's eyes glanced to the left. She drew out her sword, slicing the head of an incoming anaconda. Judging that Sasuke was in pain, and a trail of giant snakes was closing in on the two of them, Orochimaru was nearby.

"Drag her in," a familiar voice hissed.

Sasuke thrashed on the ground as his calling animals ganged up on the medic-nin. "Don't," he growled at them, his fingers clawing the sand. Some of the anaconda paused at his voice, confused at what they were supposed to do.

However, it took only one link to break the chain. One snake managed to rope around Sakura's ankle, and trip her. She screamed and kicked as it dragged her towards the lake. Her katana was out of reach.

A figure in dark robes glided on the bank towards Sasuke and the ensnared Sakura.

Sakura took a large breath of air, before the anaconda submerged her completely underwater.

Orochimaru waved a finger towards Sasuke, causing the seizure to stop. "Hello, Sasuke-kun." He chuckled as the shaking teenager stood up. "You've grown so _weak_."

* * *

Notes:

"Raiken" – "rai" means 'lightning', "ken" means 'canine'.

"Ikazuchi" – an archaic word for 'lightning'.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me. If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	45. Capture of the Fox

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

I'm back, after two months of absence. Are you ready for more excuses?

I didn't think so.

Basically, it is my senior year in college, and I am fighting for my life to finish gracefully. I had to study for Fall class finals from November to December, take the GRE, fill out and send applications to graduate schools... Once Christmas vacation hit, my father just _had_ to take the family on the annual road trip to art museums. Combined with the fact that a wire in my laptop's AC adaptor broke with one twist too many, you gain a good picture of how available and awake I was to invest time in writing fiction. And January-term was difficult — a good class in Ethnomethodology, but difficult.

And this is not the end of it. In order to complete classes that my choice graduate schools demand of entrants, I will have to take overload for next semester. (Why the hell did I not research more in my junior year? For those who are now in college hoping to continue into graduate school, take note.) Five classes, I can do, but it will probably mean less time for extra things such as writing fanfiction.

Life is stranger than fiction.

There's at least one thing both positive and exciting going on, and that's the state conference for swimming coming up in half a month. My last year of swimming the damn butterfly!

Now that this week is touring week, I have a little time to spare. I better go read and review Katana Haibane's updates — he churned out probably ten chapters during my absence.

x

"Quotations"

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

x

Chapter 45: Capture of the Fox

* * *

Orochimaru studied his former apprentice. "What a waste. If you're going to leave your own master, at least maintain some dignity by staying strong." He pulled a strand of greasy hair behind an earring. "Or perhaps all that was only due to Kabuto's pills?"

Rage consumed Sasuke's red eyes. The Uchiha felt the burn over his skin spread.

Naruto crouched on a tree branch, ready to pounce any time soon. He had watched Sakura being dragged into the cold lake by one of Orochimaru's snakes. Despite the seriousness of this confrontation, Naruto kept his cool. No, he _had_ to keep his cool. Otherwise whatever hope they had of surviving this would be killed.

A set of sticky feet landed on Naruto's shoulder. The blond tilted his head. A toad sat there, raising a glistening hang in the "okay" sign. The shinobi nodded, and locked his blue eyes back onto the shaking figure of Sasuke. Orochimaru was advancing towards his best friend, who had stayed too long in the same position.

Naruto crossed his fingers, and carried out the best possible plan he could with his limited resources.

He dropped from the trees, and yelled.

"DAAAAAAAAH!"

Sasuke jumped back as Naruto hurled a Rasengan towards Orochimaru.

'He's such a moron,' Sasuke thought in exasperation. 'He should have stayed hidden.' Yet the young Uchiha found himself grateful that he had not ended up alone with Orochimaru in this strange forest. The clouds of fog were saturated with chakra, something he had never experienced before.

Sasuke's hands flickered through the seals, ignoring the pain that was now rolling over his right shoulder. Blue energy sparked between his fingertips.

Orochimaru easily sidestepped Naruto's Rasengan. He dodged several shuriken from the shadow clones. He eyed the thin lines of metal, glinting around his arms like silver bracelets.

With a flick of his wrist, Sasuke let the other end of the wire fall into his powered hand. 'Chidori Nagashi!'

At the moment of electrocution, Orochimaru's form burst apart. Sasuke huffed in irritation at the shadow clones. The Uchiha's eyes turned red, and glared upward. He threw a kunai at his former master, before jerking away from an elongated tongue that aimed for his neck. The appendage flicked over Sasuke's chin for a fraction of a second.

"Sexual harassment!" Naruto shouted at the snake-master. Orochimaru only flailed out his tongue like a whip, grabbing and flinging him and his copies into the foggy bushes.

Shadows flitted among the trees. Orochimaru grinned. It had been a while since he cleansed the ANBU, weeding out the incompetents. 'Tsunade ought to thank me, for keeping her on her toes every now and then.' He then noticed something odd: Sasuke and Naruto were working together against him, not even bothering with the fact that their sole female teammate, Sakura, had been dragged into the lake and remained there for at least a minute.

A wet, sandy drag was heard. Orochimaru looked what was laid before his feet: a figure in black, soaking robes, with an anaconda slithering around.

Orochimaru paused. He took a kunai, and slashed it through the entwined figures.

The pink hair turned a brief blond before disappearing out of existence — it had been one of Naruto's Kage-bunshin that disguised itself as Sakura. As for the anaconda, its skin split apart, revealing thousands of blue, slimy slugs, which plastered themselves onto Orochimaru's legs.

"Gotcha!" Naruto gloated, as exasperated ANBU-members held him by the arms, having saved the blond teenager from bashing his head against a tree trunk. "Did you really think Sakura-chan would croak by getting _squeezed_?" The blond shinobi spun more kunai onto his fingers. "Your snake retreated as soon as she squeezed back."

Orochimaru examined the shredded snakeskin. "Filling it with slugs." The frown on his face was quickly replaced with a sardonic grin. "She seems to inherit Tsunade-hime's qualities. Clever, but running away at any moment of pressure."

A scrape of sand interrupted his thoughts.

Orochimaru glanced to the side. He threw a kunai at one of Naruto's clones. As soon as it winced and poofed into smoke, Orochimaru had a clear view of the lake. And the small patch of land in its center.

Sakura stood beside the Sesshou-seki, her fingers clasping the handle of the embedded sword: the Kusanagi. "Tsunade-sama does not run away from pressure!" Sakura shouted at Orochimaru. She sent a chilling glare. "And neither do I."

Sasuke was slightly relieved, but not much. Sakura was too close to the 'killer rock', as Naruto had nicknamed it.

As for Orochimaru, an odd look passed his eyes. It was different from the sadistic pleasure of mentally torturing his victims, and then letting them die a long and slow death — no, it was now simply killer intent, with every intention of a quick slaughter.

The expression was temporary, however. He smirked, as if he were dealing with another Jiraiya. "Even if you had enough chakra, your nature will never be able to handle the soul of that blade."

"Oh, yeah?" Sakura flicked through several seals. She then clutched the hilt of Kusanagi, and pulled.

Orochimaru sneered as her scream erupted.

Black sparks of chakra jumped from the angry blade over Sakura. Sasuke winced at her cry. What was she trying to prove? That she was strong? Taking the Kusanagi was suicidal. Sasuke himself knew; it was Orochimaru's signature blade.

Sakura managed to quell her shout. The pain had been so quick that she had not initially realized she was crying out; only a buzz resounded in her ears. Remembering that her master's enemy was watching, she forced herself to clamp her mouth shut, and tugged harder.

Sasuke now spat in disgust. He decided that if they survived this, he would give Sakura a good, long talk. 'And maybe a spanking,' the foreign voice added.

Orochimaru creased his eyes. It was not that he did not enjoy the girl's multiple expressions of pain — rather, he was concerned of why she could hold on for so long.

Then, the irregular batches of sound halted. It was a clean stroke, the sound of steel across a sharpening stone.

A shuddering breath escaped Sakura as she held Kusanagi. The metal had a dark, almost matte hue, as if black had been painted on. The item still zapped her, although the pain was more like the tenderness after touching something hot. Dried blood and hardened miasma flaked off from the blade, showing a hint of a beautiful silver underneath.

Orochimaru studied this strange turn of events with interest. Finally, he smiled. "Another viable candidate," he announced. His long, bony hand made half of a Tiger-In. "This is the best revenge could I bestow on Tsunade-hime for trying to murder me."

Sasuke recognized _that_ look. It was the same licentious expression of six years ago in the Forest of Death, when Orochimaru had bestowed the cursed seal on him. Sasuke's mouth opened on instinct. "Sakura!"

Sakura blinked at Sasuke's yell. Her throat constricted as the neck of Orochimaru elongated, his fanged jaws aiming directly towards her. 'No way.'

Sasuke launched himself at Orochimaru, and flung a compacted Fuuma Shuriken like a saber towards where the neck met the shoulders. Even if his former master was trying _that_ move with his head, the torso was still standing in one position.

Twisting his vision back for only an instant, Orochimaru's hand caught and threw away the weapon. His leg made a powerful kick into Sasuke's stomach, knocking the half-conscious teenager into the murky waters of the lake.

Orochimaru's head turned back fully onto Sakura, who was frozen in shock. His ribbon-like neck made his head look almost buoyant in the air. "Don't worry. I'll fish Sasuke-kun out as soon as we're done. He's precious to you, correct?" He gave off a hideous grin to Sakura, relishing the fear in her eyes. "I've always thought of what to do next after the deterioration of Sasuke-kun's body."

At this comment, the fear vanished from Sakura, replaced by anger. But before she could perform any jutsu, a line of black ink flew past her eyes.

A lion. Not a real lion, but one that moved as accurately as one, if not more viciously. Sakura felt a warm, yellow chakra behind her: Naruto was supporting her back. A black-haired ANBU appeared nearby. He unraveled a scroll of ink paintings.

"Villainous types are all the same," Sai commented, releasing several more of his lions to chase the retracting head of Orochimaru. "Always gloating over ambitions."

* * *

"The Dragon King?"

Hinata rubbed her head, trying to remember that name from her childhood about fairy tales. The stories about princes and heroes, she could recall very well. (In kindergarten, Naruto had often boasted that he would be the hero whenever story-time came up.)

The tales about the mythical creatures, Hinata had difficulty remembering. Her Byakugan abilities had made her lose the belief in monsters earlier than most children.

"Well, we suspect him to be the source of your world's present dilemma." Minoru scratched behind his ears. He noticed that they were becoming more pointed. He would have to explain later to the girl what elves were. "The Dragon King supposedly was the first god of the second creation," the blond narrated. "The first creation was with Inazaki and Inazami, the hiding of the sun after her brother insulted her, the mirror bringing her back out... I'm sure you know of it."

"But I've never heard of a second creation," Hinata said calmly. "Dragons are indeed part of the mythology, and I now know of their existence, but..." She then paused. 'Wait. Back when Sakura-san disappeared, a water-dragon told me...'

(("As a matter of fact," he said, "a human of your description did fall into my waters only moments before. Her ki was dangerously low."))

"Nu... Nunagawa!" Hinata cried out, putting ki into words to make it an official enchantment. "Come here, this instant!"

Five seconds went by. There was finally a sound of rushing water. Minoru opened the paper-screen doors before they were ripped through by an incoming water-dragon.

"Yes, Priestess?" Nunagawa floated before Hinata, awaiting her command. The water-dragon shot a suspicious glance at the tall blond standing at the doorway. "Shall I get rid of him for you?"

Hinata put a finger to her brow. That suggestion might have been tempting when that village had gone up in smoke, but now it was pointless. Especially when Minoru was providing her food and shelter. "Nunagawa-sama, do you remember that night, when I first met you?" Hinata asked. "I had asked you whether you had seen a girl with the hair the color of cherry blossoms, and you said she had drowned." Hinata breathed, hoping that her speech would sound respectful, yet still demand an explanation. "She is alive."

The dragon was silent for a moment. "I did not lie to you, Priestess," he said slowly. "I said that her ki was dangerously low, and that she had thrown herself in my river. But never that she drowned or died."

"You withheld part of the truth." Hinata's face was still serene, but underneath bubbled a quiet anger. "And such an important piece of information, too," she began to rant in a spine-chilling murmur. "Sakura-san's parents were worried sick, the Godaime-sama got so drunk that medics had to attend to _her_, Shizune-san was frantic half the time, I had to coddle Naruto-kun for at least a month..." well, that had not been so bad, she decided privately, "Uchiha-san sank into a depression and attacked an ANBU-trainer..."

Minoru watched in interest. If this was what 'upset' meant in the language of this creature called Hinata, he was curious to know what unbridled wrath was. The blond elf then felt a second watery aura enter the shrine premises. He knew who was coming.

A purple-haired demon leapt through the open screen door. "Hiya, Mino-chan!" Potamos sang. "I forgot my bustier here. I'll go to my room to pick it up." She noticed the stare of the human girl. "Hina-chan, you're awake!" She laughed as she skipped by the sweating dragon. "And thanks for the deal last time, Cutie."

Hinata stared. "Deal?" She looked back at the dragon. "Nunagawa-sama."

Potamos froze. 'Hinata. And the dragon. Uh, oh.' The water-demon then flipped her head around. "Well, I guess now that you see Sacchan's alive, I should tell you how she escaped in the first place," she jabbered to the Priestess. "Sacchan jumped in the river, and I caught her." She pointed to the floating blue dragon in the room. "He let me save her, and promised not tell anyone that Sacchan was alive — in exchange for certain services."

The water-dragon was now sweating streams from his humanoid face.

The Priestess was now confused. "Certain services?" Truly, what kind of services would a male water-dragon want from a foreign, female water-demon? Their types of ki were completely different, so it could not have been an exchange of power or contract...

Potamos giggled as Hinata blinked. "I can explain it in detail, Hina-chan." The water-demon crept up to the bed-ridden Priestess, and whispered slyly into her ear, "I can even give you a private demonstration."

"That's enough." Minoru pulled the water-demon up by the scruff of the neck, and threw her in the hallway. "Collect whatever items you've forgotten, and _go back_ to your quest for the mirror!" There was a feline yawl from Potamos before the door was shut.

Hinata put a finger to her lips, her mind still a blank. "I still don't understand. Nunagawa-sama, what did she offer you?"

The water-dragon uncomfortably pulled at his necklace. He did not like where this was going. "Um, Priestess, may I please go?"

Realization hit Hinata, and her pale eyes widened in shock. "Nunagawa-sama, don't tell me... You and Potamos..."

The water-dragon shut his eyes, waiting for it.

"You were... you were making out with her!"

There was an awkward silence.

"Um, yes," the water-dragon managed to say. "I had indeed. A bit." In any case, he was extremely glad Hinata had concluded that, and only that. He morphed into a liquid dragon, and flew out the window. "Until we meet again, Priestess."

"Nunagawa-sama, there's no shame in kissing!" Hinata called out, waving after the flying creature. "Take care!"

In the corner, a blond elf painfully clutched his sides, unable to take it.

* * *

Sasuke closed his eyes as lake water painfully rushed up his nose. That damn snake-user had shown up, yet again, at the most inconvenient of times. Was he immortal or something?

Oh, wait. Orochimaru was aiming for immortality. So far, he maintained its image pretty well. 'For a walking _corpse,_' Sasuke seethed.

With the cold water somewhat relieving the burn of the cursed seal, Sasuke did not seem to care so much that he had been thrown into a lake. He had suffered much more painful treatments during his training with Orochimaru. Now, for the fact that he was _sinking_...

Sasuke ordered his arms to move — swim, find a bamboo breathing tube, anything. As hard as he tried, it was impossible to control his limbs in a meaningful way. The cursed seal had covered his shoulders and upper arms.

His eyes cracked open. The water made painful contact with his eyes, and all he saw was a dark void. Was he going to die like this?

'Gods, you must have gone through a hell on earth.'

Sasuke nearly coughed out his precise air as a ghost appeared before him. The specter was dressed in a shabby kimono, and held a long staff with a curved blade on top. A scythe?

'Oh, right,' the ghost muttered. 'You need to breathe.' He clapped his hands.

Sasuke felt himself fall face-first onto cold, stiff ground. He looked up, and no more was the urge for oxygen tugging painfully at his head. When Sasuke glanced at his arms, he saw his flesh was slightly transparent.

"Where's my body?" Sasuke asked, in so abrupt a manner that even he was surprised. All of his thoughts seemed to pour out in the new environment. "Don't tell me I died by drowning."

"You're alive. Don't worry about your body for now." The man raised his scythe, almost in a salutatory manner. "You came towards the Sesshou-seki to undergo a Class Change, correct?"

"...Yes." Sasuke glanced suspiciously at the bones that were littered in the surroundings. "What are these?"

"Human remains."

"I can see that," Sasuke ground out. "I mean, what are they doing in this plane?"

"They're the remains of people who had touched the Sesshou-seki, and was eaten by the fox-demon inhabiting it," the ghost said. "Actually, we have to do this quick before it comes back. It likes taking souls. So!" He motioned for Sasuke to come closer. "What'll it be? Darkness or Light? Do you wanna be dreary as death, or sunny as a bunny?"

Sasuke looked at the ghost. '_Sunny_?' his lips motioned, as if ashes were in his mouth. "I'll kill you," he declared. "Completely."

"I was just giving you options." The ghost of the farmer shrugged. "Well, even if you wanted to take the path of Light, your body back in the physical plane might go into shock. So the other way you go." The dead farmer then gave a hard look at Sasuke. "Darkness does not necessarily imply evil, you know. In fact, recognizing evil for what it is, is essential for anybody taking the dark path without stumbling. Think of it as walking on a balance beam."

"So?" Sasuke only watched as the ghost pulled out a book, and began flipping through it. The pages looked crisp and new, but the script was clearly ancient. The farmer settled on a page that held Sasuke's picture, much to the ninja's discomfort.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the dead farmer announced, making Sasuke wonder how a farmer from ages past had gained the ability to read. "Born the second son of Uchiha Fugaku and Uchiha Mikoto, the head house of the hideously powerful Uchiha clan of the Leaf."

"_Hideously_ powerful?" The hidden insult to his family hit a nerve. And that was not the beginning of it.

"At age eight, your thirteen-year-old brother Itachi slaughters the entire clan in cold blood," the ghost continued. "At age thirteen, you abandon the Leaf to go to the Sound. There you apprentice yourself to Orochimaru, subjecting yourself to intense training... and drugs. Lots and lots of drugs." He looked back up to the raven-haired shinobi. "Did'ya have fun?"

"What is the purpose of recanting my history?" Sasuke asked, now peeved.

"To find the best possible test for you. Turns out to be easy — finding the test, I mean." The farmer scrawled something in his book, and slammed it shut. "Let it begin." A black cloud descended, snaking around the two of them. The ghost made a final wave to Sasuke, before flying upward with the urgency of a deer fleeing a wolf.

The miasma thickened to the color of pitch. Sasuke backed away. Scales glinted, and sharp teeth formed from the curtain of the remaining smoke. A sleek, black dragon uncurled itself.

Sasuke hesitantly made a fighting stance. He was used to fighting people, but not monsters. Sasuke then felt a sheathed sword at his waist, an exact duplicate of the one he had used back in the Sound.

"Come after me," the creature hissed. "See the face of true evil. When you understand me and conquer me, you will earn your reward."

Sasuke smirked. The dragon was waiting for him to make the first move. He grasped his sword lightly, and charged at the beast. It felt like cutting through water as the blade made a clean slice across the dragon's face.

"Too easy," the Uchiha muttered.

With a roar, the dragon turned back into an acidic cloud. The miasma collapsed in on itself, and formed into another shape. A dark-eyed figure glared up at Sasuke.

Sasuke breathed. Standing before him was a copy of his old self, with the uniform of the elite shinobi of Sound — an open montsuki-skirt, the purple rope tied in a square knot, every detail. The eyes, although dark as coal, seemed empty at the same time.

Sasuke frowned. Had he really looked that stoned? He stepped back as the copy swung its sword towards him. Sasuke clamped the handle of his own sword between his teeth, setting his hands free to perform a jutsu.

"Be careful; he's dangerous!" the ghost farmer yelled at Sasuke from above. "He's part of you, you know!"

The copy appeared behind Sasuke, an arm slung around his shoulder. "Too slow," the replica muttered. His hair began to change into a premature gray. A fanged monster with dark-gray skin smirked next to Sasuke's face. "I'm disappointed," he spat. "Why the hell should I be subjugated to you, when you're so _weak_?"

Sasuke grabbed the apparition, and flipped him over his shoulder, slamming his copy on the ground with all the force he could muster. The transformation melted away from the look-a-like, and Sasuke held his sword at its neck.

The ghost-farmer floated down. "Good job, Sasuke. You caught the evil within yourself. All you have to do is finish him off."

Sasuke stilled. He noticed bruises on the copy's neck. Forget the sword; his fingers had enough force to do the job.

"What good will that do?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

The ghost made a startled expression. "Why, it will show your resolution against evil," he said, in a 'Duh' sort of expression. "You've killed plenty of criminals before, haven't you?"

"Every human has their own sin." Sasuke looked with cool indifference as the child underneath him vainly thrashed his limbs. "Eradicate evil?" Sasuke scoffed. "What a bunch of idealistic bullshit. As long as it's controllable, it'll be fine."

The copy sent upward an annoyed expression. "Look," it snarled, "if neither of us wins this fight, our body will never wake up."

"I already won," Sasuke stated, lightly nudging the point of the sword in the Adam's apple for added effect.

"So you refuse to slay him?" the dead farmer asked. "Even when you're determined to go down the cloudy path, you choose mercy?" He saw Sasuke's nod of resolution. "Well, I have to say... you've passed."

The copy dissolved into a silver aura, before pouring into Sasuke. The ninja felt strangely different, yet also stronger.

"That test went too quickly," the Uchiha stated. "Disappointing, for a ceremony supposedly so intense."

"The greatest evil that an individual faces, is usually the evil within himself." The farmer sighed, looking a bit disappointed for having been so nervous. "I was a bit worried that you would never get that truth. Especially when you look always so constipated." Before Sasuke could retort to the insult, the dead farmer hurled his book at the ninja, who caught it on reflex. "That's yours now. Use it wisely."

* * *

Sakura was dumbfounded as Naruto and Sai appeared in front of her, apparently trying to guard her against Orochimaru. There was also a squad of ANBU around, revealing themselves in their cloaks and masks of anonymity.

Orochimaru's neck snapped back into place with the force of a retracting measuring tape, which grossed out the three teenagers watching. The snake master now looked irritated. "Is every shinobi from the Hidden Leaf determined to WASTE my time?" He began walking on the surface of the lake towards them.

"Why don't you give _up_?" Naruto shouted in rage. "You're surrounded by a squad of ANBU!"

"I've always wondered what it would be like, residing in a female body." Orochimaru gazed past Naruto and Sai, and focused on the person they were guarding: Sakura, who now held the Kusanagi. Her arm was shaking, but he was very interested in the fact that she could hold it at all. Indeed, Orochimaru did not seem at all disturbed by the fact that a dozen or so members of the ANBU were now on the lakeshore. His experience was that the wise ones refrained from even touching him.

Orochimaru halted mid-step. He evaded a glowing hand that zipped out of the water, nearly stabbing him with a pike of electric chakra.

Sasuke pushed himself out of the lake's frigid waters, and stood up. His air was that of a doused cat.

Sakura gave a quiet sigh of relief. Sasuke was alive. Even his chakra was pulsing stronger... Then she gave a second look. An aura like gray mist was escaping the Uchiha's shoulders. She noticed that Orochimaru's yellow snake eyes, only briefly, narrowed at the sight of Sasuke. The black marks of the cursed seal were turning silver.

It felt to Sasuke like tiny bonds snapped apart, one by one. Finally, the silver faded into the white skin. A smirk crossed Sasuke's face.

The snake-master immediately recognized the aura: killing intent. Orochimaru kicked off the lake's surface, backing away from his former apprentice. A hail of shuriken whirled behind him. When he flung his own shuriken back, he saw several lines of wire fly around, glowing with a silver aura.

Sakura could only stare. It was unthinkable, but there it was. "Sasuke... he took the Class Change."

Naruto's head spun towards her. "You know about the Class Change?"

Sakura looked at him. "How do _you_ know?" she shot back. "A Class Change is for only those who are concerned about fighting demons..." She then caught the expression on Naruto's face. She realized what he was only beginning to suspect of her. "Wait. You're... also deep in this supernatural shit. Aren't you?"

Sasuke curled his fingers. A different flavor of chakra coursed through them, but it was a hell of a lot less painful than what the cursed seal had ever offered. It was the same feeling he had when battling that mermaid demon, only this time it was ten times more powerful. It felt like the chakra-infested environment was empowering rather than hindering his movements.

Orochimaru sensed it, too. Within a minute, his former apprentice looked more poised and dignified as a ninja. The chakra level was a bit abnormal, too. Just in case, Orochimaru had several traps ready.

Sasuke felt a weight sink in his shirt. He drew out an old, hardcover book, which he recognized as the volume the dead farmer gave him. -The Book of Demons and Curses- He flipped through it, and saw that while most of the book was filled with a thick encyclopedia of demons, the last third of the book was made up of blank pages. One page had a thin line of words at the top. -Use this area for your own tailored curses upon humans. First write the name of your victim, followed by the impediment.-

Seeing that Orochimaru was moving away, Sasuke took this chance to grab the pen that dangled from the book by a string. He decided something simple. -Orochimaru, Paralysis-

The ink disappeared into the paper. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched as he saw words write themselves out on the page: -That move requires more ki than your body currently has. Try something simpler.-

'Useless!' Sasuke threw down the book, only giving brief notice that it faded away as soon as it left his hands.

He took off the water's surface, irritated that he had wasted eight seconds of his precise time. He drew out several more kibaku-fuda to attach to his kunai, when a black cloak passed his red eyes.

"Sasuke, leave that snake to us!" a voice echoed from an animal mask nearby.

"Be quiet, side-liners." The young Uchiha followed Orochimaru up into the trees.

The snake-master bared his teeth at the renewed speed of his former apprentice. He drew slips of paper out of a sleeve, and threw them down towards the incoming teenager.

Sasuke kicked off to another tree, dodging each and every kibaku-fuda. "I'm not that slow, Orochimaru."

"I wasn't aiming for you."

Sasuke's head snapped in the direction of the resulting explosions. Several fireballs drowned out the images of Naruto and Sakura. He flipped around a tree branch, and kicked off a trunk to drop back towards the site.

Orochimaru's tongue clicked next to Sasuke's ear. "I taught you to never show your back to the enemy."

In response, Sasuke punched his former master in the face. Orochimaru's fangs clamped down on his knuckles. Sasuke automatically winced — and then noticed that his chakra system was not behaving erratically.

Orochimaru noticed the triumphant grin from Sasuke. It was rather unnerving, especially when the two of them were dropping towards the ground.

With the reptilian jaws still around his fist, the Uchiha twisted the head to aim downward. Sasuke slammed Orochimaru on the forest floor, using gravity as an extra push.

Sasuke clutched his arm. There was a searing pain there, not unexpected after applying his whole body weight onto his former master's head after a ten-meter drop. Open teeth-gashes bled around his knuckles.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled from the bushes.

"Are you trying to scare the hell out of us, Uchiha?" a member of the ANBU rasped out.

Sasuke breathed in relief when he saw Sai's painted lions flitting about Naruto and Sakura. Apparently, Sai had made effort to protect them from the blast. Sasuke looked back at the crater's center, where the body of his former master was lodged.

The long mane of black hair raised itself. The ANBU squad tensed as Orochimaru stood up. He had received nothing more than a broken nose with a line of blood.

"Chakra cushioning?" Sasuke asked, not surprised that Orochimaru was still alive. "Normally chakra isn't sent to the face."

"Renewing a body every three years, one gets used to sending chakra everywhere." Orochimaru cracked his nose back into place with ease, and leered. "Even _there_."

"Pedophile," Naruto growled from the sidelines.

A shadow flitted from the fog. Orochimaru's yellow eyes blinked at the form above him: the figure let off a pink aura, and wielded a silver Kusanagi. Orochimaru snapped open his jaws, letting a snake escape his mouth.

Sakura hissed in pain as a black blade streaked past her shoulder. She staggered back, clutching the wound.

With his hand, Orochimaru slid out the blade from the snake of his throat. "Tsunade-hime's maneuvering techniques," he recognized. "But _this_ is the real Kusanagi. You just have a copy, little princess." Before the squad could react, Orochimaru's own Kusanagi rested upon the side of Sakura's neck. He glanced at the surrounding ninja. "No false moves. Or her throat is slit."

The ANBU-members hesitated. Naruto was stiff in outrage, now at a loss of things to shout out and distract Orochimaru.

"Now, Sasuke-kun, let us make a deal." A renewed gleam of confidence came from Orochimaru's golden eyes. "The consequences of a refusal, of course, will result in either her marking, or her death." He reached, and cupped her jaw with his cold fingers.

Sasuke studied the situation carefully. Sakura looked cryptic about the whole business, while Orochimaru looked disgustingly pleased with himself. Sasuke decided to give his answer before Orochimaru could even state the conditions.

"Go ahead." Sasuke's face was like steel. "I don't care."

Jaws dropped behind several ANBU-masks.

"Sasuke, you BASTARD!" Naruto exploded.

Nothing needed to be said what Sai's reaction was, for there was none.

Orochimaru studied the cold, unexpressive face of his former student. Sasuke had expressed quiet rage when the explosive tags had set off around his friends. Yet now the Uchiha showed indifference to the medic-nin's fate. Perhaps he cared only for men?

Taking advantage of the awkward moment, Sasuke moved.

"Nice," one of the ANBU muttered. Sasuke now held the silver Kusanagi in his left hand, having taken it from Sakura.

"Hey, that's MINE!" Sakura shouted.

"Not anymore." Sasuke instilled the blade with chakra. "I know your bluff, Orochimaru. It's true there is only one Kusanagi — but the true one is a combination of several blades. Your sword is no more complete than this one." His red eyes spun. "Prepare yourself."

In a blur, Sasuke appeared behind Orochimaru. The snake-master raised his black weapon, blocking the many slashes and thrusts that he himself had taught his apprentice. And Sasuke was using his left hand.

Sakura felt her stomach harden as she watched the duel. 'Sasuke can handle it, I guess. I'll step in if I have to.' A hot, fiery presence sparked from behind. 'Naruto?' Sakura turned her head. Her breath hitched.

Sasuke's form split into ten Kage-bunshin, each one attacking Orochimaru in a different slash. The snake master spun around, dexterously waving his Kusanagi like a calligrapher. He wounded five of Kage-bunshin, making them disappear. The sage grinned at the nervous sweat showing on the remaining copies.

"Weak."

It was not Orochimaru who said it, but Sasuke.

There was a slash, with a shout of pain.

Sasuke caught the limb before it hit the ground. He pried the second Kusanagi out of the stiff, cold fingers, before kicking the rest of Orochimaru away.

Naruto looked like he was going to throw up, until he saw the missing-nin disappear in a poof of smoke. It had been a Kage-bunshin. But the sight had been so... "Gross!" He turned around. "Sakura-chan, are you oka —"

Naruto halted, his voice stunned to silence like Sakura's was. The Sesshou-seki was glowing. An eerie blue aura whipped around the crystal stone, and circled around the lake. 'Oh, shit.' The image of a fox blitzed upward, along with a bloodcurdling voice.

_"Who touched me?" _a voice reverberated from the stone. _"A sacrilege, lowly human touched me with its unclean hands!"_ Its image flared before Sakura, who happened to be the closest human to the lake. _"Was it you?"_

'Who in their right mind would admit it?' Sakura thought, her eyes squinting at the flames. The fire was shaping into what looked like a giant fox.

"Thank you for the spar, Sasuke-kun. I leave you both Kusanagi pieces as a parting gift." The real Orochimaru's voice echoed from above. There was a chuckle as the fox apparition began inflating. "I expect to see you again, my apprentice."

The chakra of the snake-master disappeared. Sasuke hissed in irritation. So Orochimaru wanted him to survive an awakened fox-demon — probably hoped that he would be the _only _one to survive of the group, too.

_"I'm talking to you, woman!"_ the blue fox roared.

"I didn't touch the stone," Sakura retorted. A burn traveled across her fingers. A sphere of blue fire zipped by her nose. Her fingerprints glowed briefly in blue lines, before they faded, leaving a hurt pink. "Print-reading?"

Yelps of pain came from the ANBU-members; the little blue fireball seemed to have a mind of its own as it danced from hand to hand. Any chakra barriers that the ANBU put up were shot through like a dart through paper. Sasuke nearly swatted it away, had it not been so fast.

Naruto swallowed. His fists were gripped tight.

Sai looked annoyed that his fingers, too, had been subjected to the sudden foxfire attack. It seemed not to have malicious intent; it did not even leave a sting. In fact, he suspected the pain as an illusion. "Have a plan, Dickless?"

Naruto was silent. The blond picked up his feet, and strode towards the lakeshore.

The lack of response confused Sai. He then remembered back, to the moment when Orochimaru had thrown down kibaku-fuda. Sai's painted animals had shielded them, but only against the exploding notes — not against the cursed stone that had been sitting behind them. 'Don't tell me... he actually stumbled _back_ during the blast.'

Naruto's hands uncurled. Blood dripped from the fingertips of his right hand. "_I_ touched the Sesshou-seki." It had been only an accident, a brief touch, but demons never took excuses. A vulpine grin crossed his face. "What about it?"

The blue fox looked critically at him. _"Your fingers indeed possess the guilt. For that, you must pay with your life."_

Sakura grit her teeth at the threat. The two weapons in Sasuke's possession gleamed at the corner of her vision. "The Kusanagi!" she shouted at the demon, her finger pointing at the swords. "We can give your piece back, plus another, in exchange for Naruto's life — just please, let him go!"

_"I couldn't care less about the Kusanagi," _the fox-demon murmured._ "In fact, it was a thorn on my side for decades." _Without warning, a blue, flaming arm shot towards Naruto. It had been so quick that his legs had not even had time to react. The fire rushed over his body.

The sight seemed to paralyze Sasuke. He did not even have a resource to fight fire, much less that of a fox-demon. Why, why did he give up on water jutsu long ago, just because he did not advance in them as quickly as other elementals?

"Let Naruto go!" Sakura shouted, following Naruto's figure as it was dragged towards the lake.

The demon turned its slit eyes upon the pink-haired kunoichi. _'You have been spared, woman. Leave before I strike you, too, for daring to order around a fox-demon.'_

"I told you to let him go." Sakura's hair waved back from the heat of the demon, revealing a pair of dark, emerald eyes.

_"Impudent!"_ the fox-demon roared. _"Just like all humans!"_

A swarm of blue flames jumped from the stone, and surrounded Sakura instantly. Before it could envelope her, she whispered the words.

"Fuuton no Jutsu: Jyunpuu no Shihougiri." (Wind Elemental Technique: Four-directional Cut of the Fair Winds)

The dome of blue flame burst apart into four pieces. The free Sakura ran towards the burning figure of Naruto. Blue fires licked at his face, although it seemed they were not corrupting his skin. Sakura's hands flickered through hand-seals. Pink chakra oozed from her hands, before she ripped off the foxfire as if it were nothing but paper.

"Wake up, Naruto!" Sakura screamed. When his eyes did not open, she punched him in the face.

"Urgh!" Naruto groaned through his teeth. Apparently, he had been playing possum. "Sakura-chan, I know how to handle this —"

The blue fox-demon's eyes widened for a moment, but then creased in anger. It surrounded Naruto and Sakura with several more fiery limbs, and snatched the blond teenager away.

"STOP!" screamed the pink-haired girl, running across the water. "I'll kill you, damn fox-demon! I'll KILL YOU!"

The blue flames cradled the body of Naruto, and carried him into the Sesshou-seki. There was a powerful flash of blue light, blinding everybody who looked directly at it.

Then, silence. The lake was calm. The Sesshou-seki was in its normal place, sitting cold and firm as if nothing had happened.

Sasuke felt numb, colder than what the lake water could do to his skin. Everyone of the ANBU was unhurt. The only difference was that there was no trace of Naruto left.

Sakura stood at the bank, trembling. "Naruto..." Heavy pants escaped her, a look of disbelief frozen on her face. "You... You IDIOT!" Her scream reverberated through the trees.

"Haruno Sakura-san."

The medic-nin craned her head up at the source of the voice: the captain of the ANBU-squad. Sasuke noticed that Sakura's eyes looked puffy.

"All squads of the ANBU had received an order from the Hokage, to escort any missing citizens home. That includes you." A pause. "Will you come with us peacefully?" The captain of the ANBU did not want to mention that she was now under deeper suspicion of being a double-agent, now that his squad had witnessed that she knew something of sword-fighting.

The irises of Sakura's eyes tinged to a darker green. "So quick to business, even after Naruto practically died in front of you." She crossed her arms, tucking a hand within an opposite sleeve.

Sasuke noticed a cylindrical shape in the wet sleeve of Sakura's shirt. A ninja scroll?

"We cannot do anything more for Naruto. Everybody who touches the Sesshou-seki goes like that." The regret in the captain's voice was not completely concealed by years of ANBU-training. He indeed was sorry for Naruto's fate. "The least we can do for his memory is to bring you home safely."

Sakura eyed the Kusanagi pieces that Sasuke held. 'Two steps,' she calculated. 'And then escape.' She willed her swollen eyes to close.

'Dai ichi no Hagoromono: Kai!' (The first Robe of Feathers: Unseal)

There was a tremor of chakra through the air.

The ANBU-soldiers snapped themselves into fighting stances around the pink-haired medic. "Haruno, what did you just do?" one barked out.

"I'm sorry, honorable ANBU." Sakura pulled out a green, sheer material like a scarf from her drenched sleeve. She tied it in a crisscross manner around her shoulders, bunching the sleeves up in the way kimono-wearing people readied themselves to do housework. Her lean arm muscles glistened with lake water. "As much as I love Konoha, I can't finish my work now. Send regards to my shishou."

Sakura set her eyes upon the target. 'Kaze no Shundou.' (Wind's Movement)

Sasuke blinked as Sakura's form vanished, leaving only a circle of dust. Shock went through the Uchiha when the medic-nin stepped right in front of him a split-second later, and disappeared again. He then noticed his left hand empty. She had taken the silver Kusanagi.

'Did she learn the Shunshin no Jutsu?' Fighting the pain in his chakra arteries, Sasuke willed his eyes to turn back into the Sharingan, and he followed her blurring movement. 'No, it's more a mutation. That ribbon around her shoulders must have something to do with it.' He willed the surrounding chakra to support him, and he moved. His body was screaming to stop, but he ignored it. Sakura was running away. Again.

"Good-bye," Sakura murmured, now a good fifty meters away from the ANBU-group. Still running, she took another scroll from her sleeve. "Dai ni no Hagoromono," she chanted, calling upon the second Robe of Feathers, "Kai!"

The scroll broke open, letting out a river of green light that wrapped around her form. Sakura grit his teeth at the changing air pressure. The wind roared in her ears, before her feet were swept away.

* * *

Minoru coughed out the last urge to giggle. He felt the presence of Potamos disappear from the shrine grounds. "Well, that was interesting." He gave a calm smile to Hinata, who still had the unknowing expression adorning her face. She looked relaxed and ready to listen with full attention.

"According to an old tengu who's investigating the youkai realm, the Dragon King supposedly was the first of a new set of supernatural beings, who were neither kami nor youkai," the priest's apprentice narrated. "Nobody knew where they had come from. The kami ignored them, the youkai attacked them, and the few humans who knew of them were frightened. But when famine struck, and the weather gods were slothful to help the dying on the earth, the Dragon King and his children worked to churn in the harvests. The dragons' benevolence raised them to the status of kami... at least among humans."

"So, what does the Dragon King have to do with youkai springing up in the human world?" Hinata asked. "He is not related to kami nor youkai, so..."

"It seems like he is opening portals." Minoru folded his hands. "It is illogical, as he has a history of having a soft spot for humans. But all the evidence we have of youkai attacks leads to him. It even seems like he has the allegiance of a few of the upper-class kami." The elf sighed. "Strangely enough, none of the dragons we have met seem to be part of his operation. They even claim to not have seen the Dragon King for centuries, as he had retired to his own netherworld long ago."

Hinata lifted the shining lavender bead from her throat. Four less fangs surrounded the jewel, an easy price to pay for the friendship with a wolf-demon. "So what am I supposed to do?" Hinata asked. "It would be most logical to find this Dragon King, and ask him why he is doing this."

"Asking?" Minoru gave a weak smile at Hinata's naïveté. "Yes, I suppose you could do that. But it would be very dangerous. He may even try to kill you in an instant. And he has agents working in the human realm." Minoru hesitated at the next thing on his mind: the young man whom Hinata had been living with along with his parents, Tetsu, was most probably a close relative of the Dragon King himself.

"Minoru-san?" Hinata was concerned with the troubled look on his face.

"That is all to the story." The blond elf turned away. "Your training will begin in two days. Stay in bed until then."

Hinata began to get up. "But I have to exercise at least once..." She felt an overwhelming pain already when putting her weight on her knees. The dark-haired girl flopped onto the sheets, exhausted. "A day," she moaned out.

"A day after a Class Change, the chakra arteries stretch and reconfigure themselves to control several times the supernatural aura you could before," Minoru explained. "You may read those scrolls in the meantime."

Hinata rolled to the other side of her bed. Two scrolls sat in a wooden box next to the futon mattress. She also saw a white montsuki with a red hakama folded nearby.

"You may dress in those next time you walk around the grounds," Minoru said, before leaving the room. "Maybe then the demons will think twice before attacking you."

Hinata blinked. 'I'm going to dress as a Shinto priestess?' She blushed, wondering if such a costume was appropriate for her. The miko she had seen in most villages were very young and beautiful, the embodiment of the _nadeshiko_ ideal next to geisha. The only thing Hinata had in common with real miko was her long, dark hair.

'Oh, well," Hinata thought, opening up a scroll. 'I'd better not think about it too much.' She opened the flap of one scroll, when a sudden jolt went through her. She felt chilled to the core, yet also engulfed in flames. 'Naruto-kun?'

The scroll unraveled from her fingers, traveling across the floor as it dropped. Hinata's head hit her pillow, her eyes filled with images of a fiery death consuming Naruto.

"Priestess, what's wrong?"

Hinata's vision swam. She looked at the cerulean eyes and long, blond hair of the priest's apprentice above her. Tears formed at her lavender eyes. "Naruto-kun," she murmured. "Naruto-kun... He's dead."

* * *

A green ribbon of chakra appeared in front of a cave opening. Damp, muddy kendō robes materialized, along with an exhausted young woman in tears.

Sakura tugged out her hair tie. "Naruto," she groaned out between sobs, allowing herself to cry in this desolate place. "Naruto!" She hastily rolled up the two strips of sheer, green cloth, planning to clean them and store them more properly when she was calmer. "What about Hokage? What about the Leaf?" She drew up another sniff. "Hinata... Gods, what am I going to tell _her_?"

Just as she was about to bawl out a sea of grief, Sakura felt a tug. A physical one. Sakura froze — and cranked her head around, and downward. A wet, wretched figure lay at her feet, covered in brown leaves and twigs. A hand clutched her ankle.

Sakura almost stumbled back. His presence was so wrong that she nearly kicked him away. She knelt down, and lifted up the wet bangs from his face. Yes, it was Sasuke. But how?

'He must have touched me at the last moment, before the second Hagoromono teleported me out of the Forest of the Sesshou-seki.' A brief moment of panic settled in her. 'What am I going to do with him?' Sakura wondered. 'I can't send him away, but I can't let him follow me...'

In any case, she had to give immediate care. Tanking the last of her chakra reserves, Sakura hoisted him up, and carried him into the cavern.

Her feet dragged with his weight across the cave floor. She raked her memory of where the mat closest to the fireplace was, and laid Sasuke there. She fumbled around for matches, then twigs, then firewood.

Within ten minutes, a crackling fire was started. Sakura checked the single water pipe of the place. Red, rusty water burst out from disuse, but it tasted fine. She placed a full kettle on a second grate above the fire, and took off her wet montsuki-shirt.

In her bandaged chest, Sakura glanced back. Sasuke had to be taken out of those soaking clothes. But why was she nervous? As a medic-nin, she had unclothed plenty of injured men in the hospital. And yes, she had already seen the whole shebang. Some pretty nice shebang, too.

She took a deep breath, calming herself. She began with his forehead-protector. Sasuke had a fever, just like the one Hinata had. She quickened her pace, unzipping his jacket. The sandals came off, and any gear strapped to him. Sakura managed to take away the shirt layers. Pretty soon, all that was left were the trousers.

Sakura turned away, her face burning. It felt like she was raping him — not literally, of course, but she sensed she was overstepping the bounds of his already narrowed trust in her. He could wake up like a zombie anytime now and proceed to choke her to death. He _had_ taken the Class Change towards Darkness, and Sakura was unfamiliar with how it could affect a person.

But back to the main question: how was she supposed to strip him without being tempted to stare?

'Bed sheets,' she remembered. Sakura opened a drawer of the cabinet near the bed. There were the brand-new, ivory sheets she had purchased a month ago. She pulled off the old ones from the bed, shook the dust off, and draped one layer over Sasuke. Hesitant, blushing, and scared half out of her wits, she peeled off the rest of his wet clothing, the old bed sheet preserving any modesty Sasuke had left.

She tossed the dirty clothing into the wooden laundry tub. 'That wasn't too bad,' Sakura thought, trying not to dwell on the fact that Sasuke's boxers had gone along with the trousers, and that they had been _black_... 'Hurry up and clean him!' She grabbed the kettle from the fire, and poured some water in a basin. The water was not yet boiling, but it was warm enough. Sakura dunked a sponge and squeezed, before applying it to Sasuke's face. She then cleansed one limb at a time, copying how masseurs at spas gave full-body massages. Expose one limb, give treatment, and cover again with the bed sheet.

With some waterless shampoo, she patiently combed out the decomposing leaves from Sasuke's hair. Finally she could tuck him in the immaculate bed with a nurse's clean conscience.

Having jumped the major hurdle, the next order of business was dinner. There was enough chicken stock, and vegetables like onions, carrots, and daikon in the cold cellar to make a simple stew. Meat didn't sound that great to her now; perhaps she would hunt when she had more energy.

Laundry. Sakura groaned. She hated doing laundry without a machine. She attached a flexible tube from the water pipe to the wooden laundry basin, and let it run. She took a washing board and started working.

Sakura was unaware of it, but the various chores were calming her down. Caring for the unconscious Sasuke eased her back into her hospital skin. Even the repetitive motion of rubbing wet, dirty clothes against a board gave an opportunity for her mind to tune out.

As the fresh aroma of soap rose from the water, Sakura realized how smelly she actually was. Her current clothing — chest-bindings and underwear — probably needed a wash, too. And the detergent was gentle enough for baby skin. After checking (again) that Sasuke was still asleep, she dropped the remaining articles into the laundry tub, and then immersed herself in.

Sakura gasped. The water was freezing. But it would have to do. After soaping and rinsing herself within twenty seconds, she jumped out and slipped into a yukata. Shivering in the clinging cotton robe, Sakura washed, rinsed, squeezed, and hung the laundry up on a line that zigzagged the cavern's ceiling.

Sakura ladled a cup of stew for herself, and plopped down on a mat near the fireplace. Finally, the work all done, with food.

As she ate, she contemplated the silver Kusanagi and Tennyo on the other mat. Even though it was just one piece of the original Kusanagi, he was beautiful. Too bad he looked so lonely without a scabbard.

She blinked. The Kusanagi. There had been two pieces. She had pulled this silver piece out of the Sesshou-seki. Sasuke had taken it for a moment, and then it was back in her possession. Sasuke had been left with the black piece that Orochimaru had too casually given him, which was the reason why Sakura had not bothered to steal that as well. The sick snake had probably placed a tracking device on the black Kusanagi, for all she knew.

'Tracking device?' Sakura's thoughts skidded. 'Shit. Sasuke is _here._' She stood up, and hastily went outside in her yukata. She looked around the area she had teleported to, hoping to find a sign of the black sword. Sasuke had had it, so where was it now? She closed her eyes, hoping to sense a trace of dark chakra. Nothing.

Disappointed, Sakura staggered back into the cavern. She threw another log into the fireplace for the flames to devour. Just great. Orochimaru could already know their position, for all she knew.

Speaking of tracking devices, Sakura wondered if that was how Sasuke had pinpointed her so easily in the Forest. It was obvious the ANBU tipped him off, but the fact that he found her before they did said something. She looked through her possessions. The first-aid kit? Clean. Her pocket watch — no. She cracked her inrou open of its compartments.

All the trinkets and money that fell out were spotless. Frustrated, Sakura shook the loose inrou. The pink netsuke flung around, and gave a resounding clank against the base.

Sakura frowned. That was not the sound of a rock hitting wood. She turned the bottom compartment in her palm, and beheld a paper seal. Before, she had thought it was a stubborn fruit sticker. Now that she squinted her eyes, she realized that its patterns were composed of the tiniest kanji of the hand-seals... and Uchiha fans.

'Cunning bastard,' Sakura wanted to yell at the sleeping form. Sasuke quietly snoozed on like a newborn babe. 'He had tagged me already at the Kiyomizu tournament.'

She took another spoonful of her food. She swallowed uncomfortably. The need for sleep pawed at her.

A voice broke her dozing.

"Sakura... why am I naked?"

* * *

A glowing woman with fox ears walked across a gray, sandy wasteland. A castle materialized in front of her, and she slowly glided up the stairs, and to her throne room. Hanging in her arms was a blond human in an orange-and-black jumpsuit, unconscious.

"Savage, uncouth humans," she muttered, laying the human on the stone ground. She pinned up her long hair, twisting it into a bun. She sniffed — another human's scent was in the air. A feral growl escaped her teeth, but there was nothing she could do about it now. The other human was probably already gone. She had already exposed herself to the human realm; it was too late to pick anybody else up.

"They said your name was Naruto." The fox-demon licked his cheek, tasting his aura. "Hm. Different."

His blue eyes shot open. It shocked the lady fox-demon so much that she dropped him.

"OW!" Naruto yelled out as the ground made painful contact with his back. He drew himself up, and rolled around his shoulders, making cracking noises. He looked around at the cold, empty surroundings. "Wow, I was right in guessing that the killer rock was a portal."

The woman was shaking. "But! Who — how... _What are you?_"

Naruto studied the cold, empty castle. "Uzumaki Naruto, chuunin of the Hidden Leaf Village." He scratched the back of his head. "Also known to my close friends as, 'idiot', 'lucky bastard', and 'ramen-freak'."

* * *

Notes:

Well there you go. The line between PG-13 and R is drawn by a bed sheet. If Notting Hill could do it, so can I. Even though I'm a girl who likes action and comedy way more than chick-flicks.

So, this chapter gave only a few lines for Naruto. So the next chapter will probably revolve around him, and the legend of the Sesshou-seki. And Hinata is going to dress up as a Shinto priestess. (So cute!)

"Hagoromo" - its direct translation is 'feather robe'. They are practically the equivalent of wings of celestial nymphs (Tennyo) in Asian mythology. In pictures, it is displayed as a long shawl rather than an actual robe. The legend of the Tennyo and her stolen Hagoromono will be explained later.

"Shundou" - if you break down the kanji, "shun" means an 'instant' or 'moment', while "dou" means 'movement'. I took this from the manga Mahou Sensei Negima, as it was similar to, but not quite the same, as "Shunshin no Jutsu" (from Naruto, the kanji being 'instant' plus 'body', ending up with scanlations that call it 'Body Flicker Technique'), and "Shunpo" (from Bleach, the kanji for 'instant' plus 'step' turning into "Flash Step").

"nadeshiko" - literally, it is the Japanese name for the carnation or pink. But it is more known as the term for a traditional Japanese beauty, with long, straight black hair, a pale complexion, and grace in her speech and movement.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me. If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	46. Relations

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own Mahoujin Guru Guru. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

Ugh, I know. Late again. Have mercy on a graduating college senior! Even after signing up for grad schools and jobs, going to state in swimming, qualifying and going to nationals (for the first and last time), I still have to work harder than ever to keep up in class. A forty-page, single-spaced thesis is due in about a month from now.

To the reviewer who signed as "Good Luck": you are so sweet. But I feel obliged to explain anyway, because I used to update at a much faster rate years back...

Several readers inquired me about Sasuke's book, and whether it has influence from Death Note. It's true that I have seen the anime, but I actually took the idea from magicians in RPGs who need books for casting spells. Angela in "Seiken Densetsu 3" needs books to take a Class Change; there are items like the Book of Rune, the Forbidden Book, etc. And Klarth in "Tales of Phantasia" has to use a book to use magic at all, as pure blood humans usually have little to no magical talents.

Like those 'speed down' and 'power down' spells that show up in RPGs, the nature of the book will give Sasuke abilities to hinder opponents. But no way will Sasuke reach the ability to write someone's instant demise over long distances. For one, that would be a cheap plot device. Secondly, it would make this story boring as hell. If the Uchiha Avenger were to obtain a Death Note, practically half of the canon Naruto plotline would be resolved within a few minutes: all of us _know_ who would kick the bucket.

"Quotations"

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 46: Relations

* * *

Naruto brushed off the dirt from his jumpsuit, looking not the least bit unruffled that he had been kidnapped by a female fox-demon.

The Sesshou-seki demon staggered back into her chair. "YOU!" The youkai bared her sharp teeth. "Cheeky human! I'll —"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto had already heard most threats that a fox-demon could give. "Claw apart every sinew. Lick the bones clean. _Get on with it._"

The demon's nails glowed. She threw several claws of blue chakra at Naruto. "DIE!" A cloud of smoke burst around Naruto upon contact.

Her attack slashed across the room. Pulling up tiles, it left an ugly scar. The youkai spat when she saw no corpse. Her gray fox-ears twitched. She turned, slashing at Naruto who had appeared behind her.

The blond ninja evaded the swing. He grabbed her wrist, and twisted the arm. She screamed out in pain when he slammed her on the stone floor. Naruto had more physical strength than she had. A furious, whitish blue began to emit from her body. "Don't _touch_ me!"

Naruto saw the incoming wave of ki. He automatically willed chakra to his feet, and jumped back. The first step was strong and clean. On the second step, his heel caught in a loose tile.

The floor knocked the wind out of the blond shinobi. 'Damn it!' Naruto thought. 'What kind of ninja _trips_?' A hurricane of demonic aura hit him a split second later. Strangely enough, although it physically pushed him around, he only felt a minor sting.

Naruto heard a familiar canine roar. The good thing was, the Kyuubi was counteracting any damage that was caused by the other foxfire; there was hardly any burning pain over his skin. The catch was that the nine-tailed fox was roaring unusually loud inside, and for an unusual reason. The Jinchuuriki's ego was under no threat by the lady fox. The Kyuubi did not want out for the sake of tearing her up. No, the youkai currently wanted out, because he had not sensed the presence of a female of its kind for twenty years.

In other words, the Kyuubi was in heat.

Naruto gripped his blond hair, feeling increasingly uncomfortable with the lewd comments the fox inside him was making. Through the Kyuubi's senses, Naruto momentarily noticed the rawness and beauty of the other fox-demon. Her aura screamed a strong, angry female, her scent dotted with blood, and her hair — fur? — was luscious and free.

The sensations had nothing to do with Naruto's emotions, not even his physical needs. It was just that his demon tenant felt extremely cramped, isolated and sex-starved, and simply decided to transfer that pain to Naruto.

The Sesshou-seki demon lower her clawed hands. Something was not right.

**'Let me out, Boy. She smells nice, with all that blood mingled in her scent. I want her.'**

Naruto shouted in agony as the Kyuubi threw more carnal thoughts into his mind. It was not only the images, but also the smells, the tastes, the sounds of _every single female_ the Kyuubi had intimate contact with in its long life.

'Damn you, Kyuubi, I do not want to mate across species!' Naruto bit his lip so hard that blood flowed. 'Hinata — Hinata — I don't want anybody except Hinata!'

**'With pleasure.'**

Naruto mentally froze: the face of every remotely humanoid girl in the Kyuubi's mating history turned into none other than Hinata. She was still sweet, but she did not look any more innocent thanks to the Kyuubi's memory and imagination. More than half of the pictures would have made Jiraiya faint in perverted happiness. Naruto threw his head back in a scream. "You sick bastard fox!"

The lady fox-demon cautiously stepped back. She had a strong feeling that the human was not actually talking to her. Red youki bubbled and dripped from Naruto's torso. The new aura in the air made her feel almost vulnerable in her own castle, as if she were being hunted by an unseen force.

"Damn it." Naruto forced his hands together, his nostrils flaring. "This is as close as I'm letting you out." He performed a series of seals. The red youki drew back into his body like a vacuum.

The Sesshou-seki demon cried out as she was punched straight in the chest, making her skid against the hard gravel of her vast and empty abode. She picked herself up, and saw that at Naruto's hands wafted a sphere of pure blue ki. "Show me the exit," intoned the blond ninja.

The female youkai snarled at him. "Like hell I will! Nobody gets out of my realm alive!"

Naruto aimed. There was a resounding crack, and he sent the ball of light towards her.

The sphere went past the demon's head. It blew out a hole in the wall mosaic instead.

A few strands of cut hair wafted to her right ankle. "Kidou." The Sesshou-seki demon was stricken, her ankles shaking. "Why... why the hell do humans still know demon-magic?"

"To go on the defense against beings like you." Naruto repeated the seals, and raised his arm for a second aim. "That time, I missed on purpose."

He then felt a jolt travel through his system. He looked at the sphere forming in his hand: red chakra was bubbling from it, even though he had not willed it to come so. 'This is demon territory,' Naruto remembered. 'So this is what it means that kidou is naturally stronger.' He winced at the chakra overflowing his arm; he did not know it would be this painful.

The youkai, seeing that she had little luxury to savor her meal, decided to pounce right now. She turned into a gray blur, and aimed her clawed hand to go straight through Naruto's chest.

Naruto's body weighed on him like a scorching rock. His human chakra and the Kyuubi's youki were fighting for control in his arteries. He saw the incoming nails race towards him. 'I... I can't move...'

Long, dark hair flashed in front of him.

Naruto's blue eyes turned wide in shock. 'Hina-chan?'

In front him stood Hinata, defiantly holding her arms up to halt the demon of the Sesshou-seki. She was dressed in the robes of a shrine maiden, and her skin glowed. But she looked fuzzy around the edges, as if she were an illusion.

Before he could speak another word, the lady fox-demon stabbed a glowing hand through Hinata. The Priestess let off a vibrant scream. Instead of blood spurting from her, her chest simply scattered on contact from the fox-demon's claws, as if she had been a shell of paper.

Naruto's eyes turned a dull blue as Hinata's image disappeared. "Hina..."

Something within him snapped. Even though it was just a ghostly picture, he could not believe it had simply been an illusion. The aura he had felt had definitely been that of his girlfriend. 'That couldn't have been her soul,' Naruto thought in growing anxiety. 'Right?'

The blond-shinobi barely noticed that the Sesshou-seki demon had collapsed to the ground, and was cradling her reddening hand. "A purifying spell?" She glared at Naruto, as if he had been the cause of the five-second delay in killing him. She raised her other set of claws. "Is she coming back?" When the boy remained silent, the demon let off a sardonic grin. "I guess humans can't rely on humans, either."

Just as she was about to give the final blow, a wave of youki exploded from him. The lady fox-demon screamed as the red energy hit her.

Naruto shouted in agony. Kyuubi's lust burned in him, but stronger was the picture of his sweet girlfriend being ripped apart. It was unthinkable, for Hinata, a shinobi, to do something so _stupid_ as to step in and take a fatal blow for him. No ninja in their right mind...

(( A blood-smeared Sasuke glanced back at Naruto. "What... kind of expression is that... you... Clumsy... Idiot..."

'...W-Why..." Naruto painfully got up. Haku's senbon-needles riddled the still-standing body in front of him, as if Sasuke were a doll of pins. 'He covered for me...!''

"Hmph..." Sasuke gave a wry smile, just barely. "I was supposed to hate the likes of you..."

"Then... Then why..." Naruto barely felt the needles in his own body. "Why... for me..."

A drop of blood fell from Sasuke's chin.

Naruto exploded. "I DIDN'T ASK FOR YOUR HELP!"

"...How should... I know..." Sasuke gave a sickening cough. "My body moved... on it's own... Idiot...!" ))

'Oh my God.' Naruto felt panic overcome him, not even realizing that tears were leaking from his eyes. 'If Sasuke did it, the chances that Hinata tries it...'

Naruto felt sick. He had no clue whether that had been Hinata herself, or merely an illusion. It was more frightening that he lacked the quick reaction to save her, illusion or no. And now, his body was slowly losing control of the Kyuubi.

He was scared. Scared. This was not the fear of losing his own life — that was an instinctual reaction, which once had forced him to go into the inner recesses of his mind to master summoning. No, what he experienced now was the deep anxiety that he was not strong enough to protect others. And as he thought about it, that worry was well-founded. He remembered each time his loved ones put their own lives at risk, to protect _him._

(( "Naruto!" Iruka shouted.

Naruto felt a powerful shove. A shadow cast above him. A high-pitched whirling sound came to a halt, with a gruesome stab.

The boy looked up, and felt a drop of a hot, sticky liquid fall on his cheek. Blood. His teacher, Iruka, had taken a giant shuriken into his back. ))

'If people protect me and lose their lives, it's my fault.' Every new burn of Kyuubi's power that covered Naruto's body seemed yet another testament to his inadequacy. 'I can't even control what I'm supposed to...'

"Human, snap out of it!"

A stick-like object whacked the top of Naruto's head. He looked up. A familiar blond in green robes stood over him, baring his teeth.

"Stand up," Minoru ordered. Stunned, Naruto wordlessly obeyed like a child. The elf's blue eyes scrutinized the demonic energy bubbling out of Naruto. "That magic you use, kidou." Minoru poked the end of his bow in the tangerine mass, and it suddenly evaporated into a burst of red and yellow sparkles. "Kidou is the art of harnessing demonic aura in your vicinity, and converting it into its own magic. Am I correct?"

Naruto nodded, silent.

"Then use it," Minoru said. "Don't let the efforts of the Priestess go to waste."

Naruto blinked. He then grabbed the tall being's shirt, which felt very real. "Is Hinata okay?" he asked, frantic. "Tell me that was just an illusion!"

"Of course that was the Priestess!" Minoru barked. "Could a mere illusion hurt a demon?" When Naruto's face turned stricken at this, the elf immediately toned down his voice. "What you saw was the _presence_ of the Priestess," Minoru corrected himself. "She sent a piece of her aura to you in this plane, as sort of a spiritual puppet. She is perfectly safe back at a shrine, body and soul."

Naruto groaned in relief. So the Hinata he saw had been some sort of spiritual Kage-bunshin. He saw the Sesshou-seki demon lying on the ground ten meters away, struggling to get up. She looked furious. Strangely, she had tears welling her eyes.

"Why are you stalling?" Minoru asked.

Naruto looked at him. "I just realized something."

Minoru waited.

"You're a _guy_," Naruto stated.

Minoru's mouth tightened. The human realized it, with a rather facile reaction. "Finally you notice. Anything else?"

"And..." Naruto raised a finger. "Is he your dad?"

Minoru turned around. The elf almost gasped at the two apparitions that suddenly were behind him. The red monster with nine flaming tails, Minoru had noticed immediately upon its formation. But the other spirit was something the highly sensitive elf had not noticed.

It was the ghost of a tall human wearing a long, white jacket. He had thick blond hair, spiked up but at a rather old-fashioned length. Under the long jacket was a green vest of the Hidden Leaf. The specter raised a bright, fuzzy-outlined arm. "Yo, Naruto! It's cool to finally see you!"

Minoru stepped back, eying the specter carefully. He read the kanji stitched in red on the man's white coat. 'Fire... Shadow?'

The glowing figure walked over to Naruto, crouched down, and studied the crumpled teenager. "You've grown up." He gave a slight smirk. "I was right to include that chapter on kidou in my book. I knew somebody would try to pick up those techniques."

Naruto blinked several times. His mind was in a confused jumble. Then all the history books and Hokage portraits collected together. Naruto pointed a shaking finger. "Y-y-y-y..."

"Yondaime Hokage," the ghost finished for him. He turned around like a model, flaring his jacket at the slack-jawed Naruto. Sure enough, his title was thickly stitched in red on his back. "What do you think?" he asked. "Do I look as cool and awesome as the village records say?"

Naruto closed his mouth. He thought for a moment. "Well, it's true I idolize you for saving the village," he admitted. "And aside from being damn helpful, your guide-book was actually somewhat funny..." Naruto took a deep breath, before he stabbed a critical finger at the deceased. "But now that I listen to you, you sound like a SMARTASS!"

Apparently, the Yondaime had not expected this kind of response. "W-What?" It was almost a whine. "Naruto, what kind of reaction is that!"

Minoru now felt completely left out and ignored. He had an inkling of what kind of relationship this Yondaime and Naruto had. And it was not simply one person sealing a demon into another.

"Why don't you give me your REAL NAME?" Naruto stood up to him. "It never shows up in the books!"

The Yondaime grimaced. "Look, isn't there more important business for you?" the spirit asked. "Like, a Class Change?"

Naruto blinked. "I can do that _here_?"

"It's the Sesshou-seki grounds," the ghost reasoned. "Even if a piece of the territory is in another realm, it still counts."

"I get to be inducted by the Yondaime Hokage?" Naruto pumped a fist upward. "Friggin' AWESOME!"

'What an easily distracted child,' Minoru thought. 'What hallucinogenic substance did the Priestess consume when choosing him?' With a fling of his tan cape, the elf warped himself out of the surreal castle. He did not even alert his departure to Naruto, who barely noticed anyway.

"So, so, if I take this Class Change I can get stronger, right, right?" Naruto asked eagerly. "One Class Change towards Light, please!" He glanced to the side: he caught a nine-tailed fox drooling at the sight of the downed Sesshou-seki demon. "Kyuubi, you are NOT having wild, nonconsensual animal sex in front of the Yondaime on my watch!"

The red fox gave a feral snarl, before slinking away from the female.

The Yondaime placed a hand on Naruto's head — although almost as tall as him, Naruto still had a bit of the gangly, awkward teenage air about him. Disappointment slightly crossed the Yondaime when his hand waved through without disruption. Nevertheless, the ghost kept a smile. "You've turned out better than I hoped, Naruto."

Naruto gave a wide smile.

"Hm?" The Yondaime's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. He contemplated the chakra signature of Naruto for a moment. "Oh, shoot," the specter muttered. "The Path of Light is a no-go for you."

Naruto's expression fell. "Huh?"

"You're too advanced in demon-magic," the Yondaime said. "You'd make the Class Change towards Darkness much easier."

"What?" Naruto felt a stone drop at the word 'Darkness.' What if that kind of Class Change turned him into a demon? "But..."

"Don't complain about it," the Yondaime ordered. "You were given certain abilities. Good and evil depends on how you use them." He smiled at the worried Naruto. "Hey, the same is true for any shinobi. Especially the Kage. No matter how idiotic or fancy-prancy they appear in public, they are still 'shadows,' pulling their own strings behind the scenes."

"But you were the 'Yellow Flash'!" Naruto protested.

"That's just a title." The Yondaime dismissed it so easily. "Having a title isn't the same as being competent." He positioned his hands, and concentrated. A blue aura began to surround the ghost. His cerulean eyes shot open, and he zipped through hand-seals at warp speed. Naruto watched in awe, as the dead Hokage's hand movements were fast as Kakashi's, if not faster. "The word 'Hokage' is also just a title."

The ghost finished the sequence, and then put his hands into the ground. Beams of yellow aura crisscrossed and shone, creating a golden mandala — a circle that represented life and death, birth and rebirth. Naruto stood in its center.

Suddenly, the ghost's arm was engulfed in a blue flame. Before Naruto could ask what it was, the Yondaime punched it into his stomach.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. His physical body was unaffected, as the transparent arm simply went through him. But his mind plunged into entirely something else.

The image of a red, tiny and shriveled hand came into his sight. He, or the baby to whom the hand belonged, was reaching up towards a man and a woman with long, unkempt hair. They would have looked extremely beautiful, had they not been scowling in disgust. The man waved an arm. Suddenly, Naruto's vision was engulfed in black flames.

"The first picture you see is Inazaki and Inazami casting off their first children to hell," the Yondaime's voice reverberated through Naruto. "Their crime was supposedly being too ugly at birth. Following are snippets of the violence of their offspring, along with other creatures. You'll see humans, too."

Naruto breathed heavily as he took in the scenes, many of which were gruesome. The images of torture and war went by so quickly, he had difficulty believing that they had really happened. Naruto felt chilled when he saw a whole clan of dragons murdered by a set of kami, and the survivors later fed upon by youkai. The images of humans were no better: through his mind flashed thuggish feudal lords, massive armies, corrupt clans, the 'erasing' of advanced bloodlines.

Finally, the founding of the Hidden Leaf. Naruto could hardly believe that the lively village that he now called home had started out as a tiny camp of poor and desperate ninja. The Shinobi Wars. The Jinchuuriki, the great nine demons. The attack of the Kyuubi.

Naruto saw a thrashing boy, screaming for his parents as a Konoha-nin held him back. The boy had his brown hair in a ponytail, and a horizontal wound across his face. 'Iruka-sensei?' Then came a baby, crying and alone, in a basket surrounded by candles. Naruto recognized the seal around the creature's naval. 'That's me...'

It all sucked to black. The blond shinobi collapsed to his knees. Sweat dripped from Naruto's forehead. A nightmare. "Why did I have to see all that?"

"That was the ceremony itself." The Yondaime's image hovered over Naruto as the Sesshou-seki demon began to engulf herself in her own flames: she was starting to heal her wounds. "Get ready."

The Kyuubi sprinted towards Naruto. Instead of tackling the human, the figure turned into red energy mid-air, and swirled around Naruto like a tornado. Naruto felt his bellybutton get yanked back. It was unpleasant remembering the tidbit that Sakura told him, that the naval was had a physical connection to the liver.

"Did you feel this bad when taking the Class Change?" Naruto asked.

"Me?" The Yondaime pointed at himself. "I never took the ceremony. The only time I dealt with youkai was the last hour of my life."

"H-hey!" Naruto shouted. "You made me go through a hassle I might not have _needed_? I feel like shit!"

"Behind you."

Naruto cranked his head around. The Sesshou-seki demon thrust a clawed hand at him. Naruto yelped as he evaded the attack. Strange. His legs did not feel tired. The female demon threw a punch, which turned into three, then five, then seven. After Naruto's head tilted away from a ninth thrust, the female youkai let off a shriek. Her arms turned into a blur of blue foxfire. "Hold STILL!"

"No freakin' way!" Naruto retorted. He felt like he was walking on a tightrope. It was kind of cool that he somehow gained enough speed to match up to the youkai, but he evaded each move only barely.

The Yondaime flew next to blurring Naruto. "Have you tried demon-sealing before?"

"Stay out of the way, you dead-end!" the female demon snapped at the ghost. In that moment, Naruto's leg struck. She staggered back. At her falter, Naruto jumped to the side, and smoke exploded around him. He turned into two Kage-bunshin.

"Sealing?" Naruto's Kage-bunshin poofed away. "Yondaime, you obviously don't know me." With his hands containing a whirling cluster of chakra, Naruto sped off towards the silver fox-demon.

The ghost crossed his arms. "So you're the type who can't rest until it's all done." He smiled at the running Naruto. "You might go further than me."

"Sealing is too complicated!" Naruto called back. "Because I can't memorize jutsu that take longer than ten hand-seals!"

"...Or maybe not," the Yondaime murmured. He sighed. "Well, go at your own pace."

The Sesshou-seki demon saw Naruto advancing. The swirling mass of chakra in his hand looked more volatile and powerful this time. Panicking, she folded her hands into a strange seal.

Naruto's arm blurred faster than her eyes could catch. A strong punch landed in her stomach.

Her fingers slipped, interrupting the spell. The environment around her and Naruto broke like glass. Endless pitch black began to swallow them.

The Yondaime's voice echoed through the void. _"Naruto!"_

* * *

(( (13 years ago)

A small Sasuke stood, staring at a tall screen door. "Nii-san," he chimed.

There was a long wait.

The door slid open. "What is it, Sasuke?" A nine-year-old Itachi walked out of his room, donned in ninja gear. The prodigy took one glance at the object in Sasuke's hands, and then walked down the hallway.

Sasuke tailed after his older brother. "Will you read me a story?"

"I have a mission." Itachi turned, and lightly tapped an index finger on his younger brother's forehead. "Sorry, Sasuke."

Sasuke gave an annoyed pout as his older brother left the house. He could read a little on his own, but it was so much more fun when Itachi read to him. Itachi had recently been out for long periods, sometimes not even showing up for days at a time. Their father called it special training, but Sasuke felt more lonely and bored because of Itachi's increased absence.

"Sasuke?" Uchiha Mikoto stood at the corner of a hallway.

"Kaa-san!" Forgetting his older brother instantly, Sasuke ran up to her, and held up the book. "Story?"

His mother smiled. "Of course. The living room."

Sasuke dashed off. "A race!"

Mikoto hurried after the four-year-old. "Be careful!" To her relief when she entered the living room, Sasuke was already seated at the low sitting table, unhurt. She sat down next to him, and opened the book. She already knew that Sasuke had attempted to get Itachi to read the next story and had failed, so she turned the pages to it. She tilted the book so that her four-year-old son could follow the lines as she read out loud.

"A long, long time ago, there lived a poor fisherman. One day, when he was setting out his net, a long, flowing cloth was caught in it. When he pulled it out, he could not understand what it was. It was made of the most radiant material, more beautiful than silk or gold. He decided to hide it in his boat, thinking he could sell it for a high price.

"That evening, someone knocked at the fisherman's hut. She was extremely beautiful, yet looked distraught. 'Please, sir,' she said, 'I have lost my hagoromono, a Robe of Feathers. I am a tennyo, and need it to fly to back to heaven.'

"Struck by the beauty of the celestial nymph, the fisherman decided to keep the whereabouts of the hagoromono a secret. 'I have not seen it,' he lied. 'But I will help you in your search. If you have no place to stay, it would please me greatly to provide you shelter, as miserable as my hut is.'

"The tennyo, having no other choice, stayed with the fisherman. While she was not looking, he hid away the hagoromono. When it became apparent to the tennyo that she would not find her robe again, she fell into despair. The fisherman comforted her. After a time, she became his bride."

Here, Sasuke piped up. "So he made the tennyo love him, by tricking her?"

Mikoto smiled half-heartedly. "I don't know," she said. "It certainly was wrong of him to lie about the hagoromono. Maybe she did love him. The story doesn't say."

"Oh," Sasuke said.

Mikoto continued from where she left off. "As time passed, the man fished enough to buy land, and set up a farm. The tennyo also worked. Her beauty and kindness brought all sorts of people to help the fisherman. He built a house for both of them. He helped found a village. Then, his wife bore him a child." Mikoto turned the page. "The fisherman was happy. The tennyo seemed content, but she secretly longed for her homeland. One day, when the child was playing, the tennyo heard her son sing about a beautiful cloth, and the place where it was hidden. She checked, and there was the hagoromono. Without a word to her husband, she put it on, and flew back to heaven."

Sasuke looked sullen at this ending. "She left her family?" He looked up at his mother. He knew that she was prettier than the mothers of his classmates in kindergarten. Sasuke frowned. "Kaa-san, you won't leave, will you?"

"Of course I won't." Mikoto gave a gentle smile. "Your father, Itachi, and you... I love you all too much." ))

* * *

With the reaction of a frightened sparrow, Sakura jumped up from the bed.

Groggy, Sasuke could barely laugh or frown at Sakura's composure. He felt sick, his body ached everywhere, almost as if he had the flu.

What mainly disturbed him was his state of clothing. More specifically, the lack thereof. Sasuke heaved his back from the futon, taking care that the blanket did not loosen away any further than his stomach.

Sakura stood rigid, keeping her face turned towards the fireplace. A brown yukata clung around her. "You're awake."

"Why am I _naked_?" Sasuke repeated.

Sakura put a finger to her head, trying to formulate an answer that would not enrage him. "You were wet, dirty, and unconscious." She pointed to the zigzagging laundry line above them. "You'll get your clothes back when they're dry."

"At least give me a yukata."

"Sorry." Sakura tightened the thin robe around her. "This is the only one."

Sasuke did not answer. He watched the pink-haired kunoichi tighten her arms around her stomach. From her tilted head and watery voice, he realized she was probably crying.

She drew a sniff. "I... I can't believe it!" Sakura strangled out, covering her eyes with a hand. "Naruto just — he might has well have _given_ himself to that demon! He hadn't even made a Kage-bunshin! I thought he wanted to survive long enough to become _Hokage_!"

"Calm down," Sasuke said. "First of all, we have to remember that he's an idiot."

Sakura whipped her face around, which was angry and wet with tears. "Sasuke, how dare you—"

"A self-sacrificing idiot," Sasuke continued. "Naruto put his life on the line to save his comrades. Which is what the Hokage does for the Hidden Leaf." The dark-haired shinobi paused. "Secondly, he's alive."

Sakura's green eyes turned wide. Sasuke looked so convinced that it was frightening. "H-How?" the kunoichi sputtered. "No matter how great a ninja Naruto is, how in the world could he match up to a fox-demon? In the Hidden Leaf, only the Yondaime Hokage has ever done so — and he only managed to _seal_ the Kyuubi!"

"The Kyuubi itself is sealed in Naruto's body," Sasuke said. "And Naruto has been training in kidou on his own."

Sakura took a moment to digest this information. "Kidou?" the medic-nin repeated weakly.

"A type of demon-magic," Sasuke explained. "It gives Kyuubi a chance to let off steam, without threatening the seal. Its effect increases whenever one steps into youkai territory."

Sakura could not help but fret. "But..."

Sasuke shifted in his blankets. "The Kyuubi won't allow another fox to overpower its host."

"What if the Kyuubi finishes off Naruto in the process?"

"It won't," Sasuke stated. "Stop worrying, Sakura."

Sakura felt light-headed. Naruto was most probably okay. That meant she had cried in front of Sasuke for _nothing_. The kunoichi wobbled towards the fireplace.

Sasuke's gaze traveled down her damp yukata. The kunoichi's head spun around. He guiltily darted his eyes away from her backside.

"Since when did you wake up?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow at her threatening tempest. "You should be able to tell when I was awake. _Medic_." His voice was slightly mocking.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Sakura's aura was midway between annoyance and outright fury. "What were you _thinking_, grabbing onto me like that? You could have been killed!" She stamped a foot in the ground. "It's a miracle that the trip hadn't asphyxiated you enough to inflict brain damage! Or did you not already have enough brain cells that no discernable change could be made? Now I have to take care of you in this GOD-forsaken place—"

"Why did you decide to take care of me," Sasuke interrupted, "if I'm such a burden?" He watched her bite her lip. The Uchiha glanced down at his undressed state. "You're either too much a medic, or reverting back to your old ways."

Sakura turned rigid at the low blow. She clenched her fist, and turned away. "I'll make some tea."

She emitted a frigid silence as she worked.

It slowly hit Sasuke that he hardly liked this quietude. He was amused when Sakura was angry, but certainly not when she was moody or depressed. He held enough angst for the both of them. "Sakura," he restarted.

Sakura ignored him. She tugged on the back of the yukata, hoping to clear away any shape that the damp cloth decided to mould to. Her physique did not need to be made fun of by Sasuke as well. She guessed he would probably say that her body looked too manly, or some other thing to bristle her.

"Sakura." Not knowing what else to say, Sasuke watched from afar. The young woman scooped and dropped the tea powder, with two strong taps of a small bamboo stick. She turned each cup twice around in her hands, mixing the tea. Sasuke oddly felt some sort of nostalgia with the movements of her hands and arms. She must have taken a few classes in tea ceremony.

The image of a ritual cracked when she thrust the cup in front of him, and ordered savagely, "Drink."

Aware of the truculent edge to her voice, Sasuke accepted it. He then carefully studied the ceramic in his hands. Without taking any tea, his dark eyes lifted up.

Sakura was confused at his gaunt stare. Then she remembered that Sasuke was a ninja, not a medical ninja. He thought she might have drugged it. "Sasuke, if I had decided to give you care in the first place, there would be no reason for me to poison you."

Sasuke looked down. "I insulted you."

"You didn't," Sakura said.

"You felt insulted."

Sakura huffed. "A little," she admitted. Damn Sasuke for analyzing emotions. "But you didn't mean to. You only said what any normal shinobi would say." She gave a weak smile. "It is a bit suspicious for a missing-nin to give care to her pursuer. But I couldn't just leave you there in the dirt."

Sasuke could not bring himself to apologize. He barely remembered how. Neither did he tell her that Tsunade had declared her only as a missing citizen, not a missing-nin, the latter of which labeled a death sentence.

Instead, Sasuke held out his cup to her. "Drink it first."

Sakura looked at him. "You're joking," she stated.

"I don't joke."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Ever the paranoid, are we?" She took the cup, drew a loud sip to assure Sasuke that she was indeed drinking the tea, and handed it back to him.

Sasuke stared at the smudge of moisture on the cup's edge. An awkward feeling rose in him. He remembered that drinking from the same cup was an ancient sign of marriage. That was the whole point of the sake exchange in the Shinto ritual.

Sakura growled. "Why aren't you drinking?"

Sasuke immediately drank. Midway he choked. He covered his mouth, coughing with the most dignity he could muster.

"Sasuke!" Sakura rubbed his back.

"Damn," he managed to say. The fit slowly subsided. He crunched the bed sheet in his free hand. "I forgot that option."

"What?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Poisoned lip gloss." Sasuke glared at the cup. "Or whatever that gunk it is girls use."

Sakura blinked at his logic. "Poisoned lip gloss?" She did not use gloss or lipstick, or at least not anymore. And even if she did, there was a problem in fixing up such a substance for the sake of drugging tea. "Wouldn't that kind of thing endanger the wearer first?"

Sasuke thought about it. "Not if you were immune to it beforehand," Sasuke stated. "You are a medic-nin, after all." Sakura sent him an odd look, which made him nervous.

Then, something beautiful happened before him: Sakura smiled. It was not a staged smile, but a real expression of laughter. Sasuke could not remember the last time she had used it in front of him. "Sasuke, you are so _cute_!"

The whole spell broke when she used the last word. Cute. Him?

Sakura noticed his stern expression, and then straightened her face out. "I mean, that is very observant of you." She cleared her throat. "Investing your shinobi observation skills... to the most finite details..."

Her eyebrow twitched. A snort was on the verge of betraying her. Sasuke narrowed his dark eyes, as if daring her to laugh.

Her mask fell apart. Sakura knelt at the side of his bed, muffling giggles. "Oh my God!" She wheezed through the futon. "Uchiha Sasuke has 'lip gloss' in his vocabulary! I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun, it's just too adorable..."

Sasuke continued to glare at her, in vain. "ANBU records show actual deaths like that." Although, to be exact, he did not read the details of such deaths very well, except that they had been carried about by female ninja. From her peal of laughter, Sasuke assumed Sakura had not known that kunoichi trick, either. So she could not possibly have drugged him. Sakura was still in a giggling fit as her body poured over the edge of his bed.

Sasuke dropped back to his pillow. He waited until her laughter died down. "You..."

Grinning, Sakura looked up. "Hmm?"

"You didn't trash my name."

The medic-nin blinked. "Huh?"

"You used the childhood suffix."

Sakura blinked. "I called you Sasuke-kun?" At his nod, Sakura put a finger to her chin. "Hm. I didn't notice. Must have been a slip of the tongue." Sakura seated herself upon the mat at the foot of the bed. "Sorry."

"It's not that." The Uchiha turned away when the kunoichi glanced at him, giving him innocent eyes. "I mean..." Sasuke found himself looking for the words. "Why did you stop?"

Sakura studied him carefully. "You mean, why did I drop the suffix?" At his grim nod, she thought about it. "Oh, right!" she chimed. "The first time I decided to call you just 'Sasuke', was when I lost respect for you!"

Her words hit well. Although his ego was bruised, Sasuke did not blame her. Rejecting her pleas and abandoning the village to go to Orochimaru at the age of thirteen was not the wisest thing he had ever done. The move was ambitious, maybe even genius, but not very wise.

And there might have been some other incident between him and Sakura. It was more like a bad dream than a real memory, though.

"I also began to think, it was about time to start treating you as a close friend, like Naruto and Ino," Sakura jabbered on. "'Sasuke-kun' is nice and sweet, like primary school-ish. But after a while, it kinda began to sound more distant. As if I were still chasing the eight-year-old version of you."

Sasuke felt a terrible headache coming on. It was an awful vision, but a suspicion nagged at him that it could be no simple dream.

* * *

(( His body jerked forward. Purple chakra overflowed his legs, the speed that the second level of the cursed seal promised.

A stranger in a green cloak backed away, eyeing his mutated arm. Her posture looked tense, but determined to survive.

Sasuke's vision caught a white throat. His nails itched to cut it, to tear it open. He stepped in front of her in a blur, and swung his arm.

An audible gasp came from his opponent. Three lines of blood appeared on her throat. Pieces of her red shirt fluttered around the wounds, like the petals of a flower surrounding its core. The figure backed away, covering her throat with green-glowing fingers.

Sasuke was surprised. The stranger's pink hair tugged at his memories. Pink hair? He could not remember who in his memories had such a hair color. 'Sakura,' a voice in him echoed. He could barely remember why he was fighting this stranger at all.

'Sakura,' the voice echoed again. Through his tainted, hawkish eyes, Sasuke forced himself to take a hard look at the stranger's face. Green eyes looked at him, tense and critical. _'Sakura!'_ ))

* * *

Sasuke felt agitated. He decided to test his suspicions, whether that had been just a dream — or a memory. It certainly had taken place _in_ a dream, the dream from which he had just woken. But the imagery was too familiar and concrete in his mind, like an actual event he had witnessed. Dreams of sleep were easy to forget after waking up; memories of real life were solid.

Sasuke coughed to clear his throat, and used his most monotonous voice possible. "So, you lost respect for me," said Sasuke, "when I attacked you at the second stage of Orochimaru's seal."

"No, after you left the village, but before that —" Sakura's eyes snapped open in panic at what she had just answered. "Wait, I'm sorry," she said quickly, "What did you say again? I think I misheard —"

"Don't bother." Sasuke now sat upright, averting Sakura's gaze of bewilderment. He should have seen something like this coming. A simple spiritual ceremony could not fix up his life that easily. "So it did happen." The raven-haired ninja let off a smile of cynicism. "I once attempted to kill you."

Sakura ran a hand through her drying hair. "I see," she stated, frustrated with this new symptom of her patient. "The Class Change made those experiences surface again."

Sasuke's hands were turning cold from sweat. "I wounded your _neck_." The teenager drew in a haggard breath. "Your old dress..." Sasuke put a hand to his mouth, almost wishing he would not say such things aloud. When he had been under Orochimaru's guidance and sedated with Kabuto's drugs, the thought of killing Sakura would not have been surprising. After all, he had long ago made it clear, that he would not stop at anything to obtain revenge. But now, killing her seemed like a useless foreign concept, even a heresy.

"Sasuke, no." The medic-nin knelt at his bedside, and cradled his deathly limp hand in her warm ones. "It wasn't your fault, you weren't in your right mind then. It was the cursed seal's actions, not yours."

Sasuke nearly threw her hand off. "Why didn't you tell me?" he hissed. "How many other things have you been blinding me about?"

A guilty look momentarily crossed Sakura's face, before it was covered by glowering indignation. "And what was I supposed to do? Tell you that you went berserk?" She forced out a laugh, which sounded like half a sob. "You wouldn't have believed me anyway."

Sasuke was silent for a while. He thought about it, and some part of him said she was right. Not that he would tell Sakura. His pride was already crumbling before her as it was. "You knew about that piece of the Kusanagi," he said, going to the next subject of his concern. "How?"

Sakura looked up at the cave ceiling. "I have access to an amazing network."

Sasuke decided that he also hated her cryptic responses. "What else have you been doing since you left."

Sakura glared upwards. The Uchiha was now demanding answers from her. "What I do, as long as it's within the safety of the Hidden Leaf, is _none_ of your business."

The Uchiha felt his last pieces of composure drop. "It _is_ my business, when I find you near things like the Sesshou-seki and the Kusanagi!" Sasuke now shouted. "I hardly call that safety of the Hidden Leaf, let alone YOURS!"

Sakura was momentarily frozen. For the second time in her life, she heard him raise his voice outside a battlefield. Her green eyes then darkened. She stood up tall, her shadow flickering over Sasuke's pale form. "During all our years together," the young woman said, "I hardly remember you ever expressing interest in my personal safety."

Bewilderment crossed Sasuke's black eyes at her answer, if not just slightly.

Sakura inwardly smirked. She had evidently shocked Sasuke with her clipped, honest comment.

Her mind took a double-turn when he grabbed her. The kunoichi was about to physically retaliate at the too-quick movement, until she realized it was an embrace. By Sasuke. His grasp around her waist hurt like hell. But what frightened her the most was the fact that he was shaking slightly.

"I missed you."

It was just a whisper from Sasuke, muffled in her yukata. But Sakura knew her former teammate well enough that the statement could have marked the end of the world.

"What the hell were you thinking, faking a suicide?" Sasuke's voice was strangled. "You ran off with no explanation. Even if you were alive, do you realize how _lonely_ I was?"

'Oh. My. God.' Sakura's logic was in a spin. 'Uchiha Sasuke is hugging me. Uchiha. Sasuke. _Hugging_ me.' Her face blanched. 'Holy shit. I'm going to be killed by Sasuke! Oh my God oh my God oh my —'

Her inner panic subsided a little, when she reminded herself of the immediate after-effects of the Class Change. A breakdown that made Sasuke emotionally vulnerable would make sense.

Hinata had taken the Class Change towards Light, and immediately afterwards, the otherwise gentle girl nearly killed Potamos in a sort of defensive rage (the mood-altering spell of the invisible demon only helped to amplify it). Sakura herself had taken the Class Change towards Light, and she also had experienced something of a bad mood swing: right after she converted into a Mystic, Sakura demolished an empty field with chakra-infused martial arts. For what reason, she still could not remember.

The immediate symptoms following a Class Change towards Darkness, then, would logically be something other than a wish to inflict hurt or destruction. For Sasuke, it apparently meant having a good cry. He was indeed expressing more emotion to Sakura than she had ever imagined him capable of.

Any more snipped remarks had the potential to even produce a wail.

Uneasy at the thought, the young woman carefully sat down on Sasuke's bed, intending to comfort him. She nearly gasped when his arms snaked around, pulling her close. A hand of his came to rest on the small of her back, and the other on a shoulder.

Had Sasuke bestowed this gesture on her five years ago, the old Sakura would have melted in ecstasy. The Sakura now almost feared for her life.

Sasuke noticed her long, stiff tension. "You hate me."

Sakura made a tough swallow. The fuzz of an eyelash tickled her, telling her exactly how deep Sasuke's head was buried at the crook of her neck. This was too unreal; it was both laughable and terrifying.

"Why should I hate you?" Sakura murmured. She felt a tiny, wet drop on her throat — when she realized what it was, she fought with herself not to follow suit.

'It's the symptoms,' she reminded herself. 'Don't take it to heart. But you've got to support him.' Sakura cautiously put a hand on his shoulder, and stroked her fingertips down. Her mother would do this for her, whenever she came home depressed because of a failed operation at the hospital.

The touch electrified the already unstable Sasuke. Before Sakura could react, his hands hooked around her shoulders and pushed her down. His awkwardness made it less than threatening, but it was definitely a needy gesture. He then latched, with the intensity of a child clutching a teddy bear during a thunderstorm.

Sakura's face grew hot at their position. She was barely clad in a yukata, and Sasuke was... barely clad. Thankfully the futon blanket had twisted around Sasuke's lower half, but it saved her only a little embarrassment. And damn, his bare chest was FINE. Even the confused agony on his face did not contort his aristocratic features. If anything, his demeanor gained the touch of an orphaned puppy.

Sakura scrunched her eyes. 'No, I do _not_ want my first time to happen because I took advantage of a guy's vulnerable state!' Sakura awkwardly put her arms around his back in a platonic embrace, trying to ignore how sturdy and beautiful he felt. "Sasuke, tell me what's wrong." She felt a bit odd saying such words to Sasuke, of all people. "There must have been things other than my leave to upset you this much."

Against her, Sasuke swallowed, as if regaining some of his stoic training. He did not know what exactly was 'wrong.' He searched around for a correct answer. "...Everything." After forcing that word out, it felt like his tongue spilled loose. "The ANBU-trainer is a moron," Sasuke began. "I used your scrolls, did jutsu-equations perfectly, and he kicked me and Naruto out his class because it looked too much like the Hidden Mist style."

"Oh, shit." Sakura decided not to complain about her own situation in regarding the scrolls, instead keeping her concern on Sasuke. "I honestly did not know that. And I didn't think you'd actually need to work jutsu-equations until much later."

"Naruto's girlfriend disappeared several months ago," Sasuke went on a low ramble, "And the Hyuuga clan wouldn't say anything about it. So Naruto and I and what's-his-name..."

"Sai?"

"We went on a mission to look for her." Sasuke paused. "And you."

"I saw Hinata-san a week ago," Sakura said. "She's safe at a shrine, and is getting some training as the Priestess."

"Oh." Sasuke felt a little more relieved, but also a bit deflated that he had one less complaint to verbally angst over. Talking felt kind of _good_. Especially when the listener was a patient one like Sakura. "And Naruto..."

"You told me that he's fine, remember?" Sakura traced a finger lightly over Sasuke's cheek. She could not help it; it was an odd pleasure to see his face puffy, if only slightly. "Though, it's kind of a pain in the ass, not knowing when next we'll see him."

The two of them became silent at the thought. Although no words were exchanged, neither of them felt the urge to move, or say anything at all. It was just enjoying the peace. It was like when they had woken up together, the morning after Sasuke nursed Sakura from an intense cold. The abrupt disappearance of the cheerful Naruto produced in them an urge to hold onto whatever teammates they still had.

The silence was finally broken by Sasuke. "I'm hungry."

An amused snort came from Sakura. "I was wondering when you'd mention it." She pulled herself up from his embrace, feeling strangely refreshed. She went to the pot over the fireplace, and ladled the contents into a clean bowl. "It's a bit bland," the medic-nin said, handing the stew to him. Sasuke took it without complaint. Once tasting it, he gulped it down, not even noticing the spoon Sakura offered him. "Slow down, Sasuke. Your stomach might not react well."

Sasuke gave her the empty cup, looking a little embarrassed at his manners. He then froze.

"Sasuke?" Sakura knelt down at his bed.

The Uchiha turned away. He slowly curled into the bed covers. "Sleeping pills."

The pink-haired kunoichi looked at the bed lump. "What?"

"I want to sleep," Sasuke ground out. In truth, he was not sleepy at all. He just had an awful headache. He was also mortified. He had lost his cool logic, in front of Sakura of all people. He wanted to forget that mood swing somehow. "I need pills. I've got a headache."

Sakura shook her head. "I don't have sleeping medication on me." She frowned. "Don't tell me you've gotten hooked on pills to sleep at all."

"Genjutsu, then," Sasuke snapped. His heart beat at an insane rate. Not only had he just given Sakura an embarrassing monologue that a common emo could dredge up, but he also had a hard time moving without tiring himself out. In a cave, all alone with Sakura, who wore nothing but a thin yukata. He wanted to sleep so that he did not have to _think_ about all this. "Damn it, put _something_ on me."

Sakura placed the empty cup in the sink. "The only sleep genjutsu I know is..." She gave an embarrassed cough. "Sasuke, do you really need to sleep?"

"I can barely move anyway," Sasuke stated, grouchy. He heard the light patter of her bare feet coming towards him. Sakura's weight sank on his bed. He turned in the blanket and glared at her, or at least tried to.

Sakura lightly rested her forehead on his. Her eyes were closed, shutting out any cold expression Sasuke would have thought of giving her.

"Sa-Sakura?"

Oh damn, he sounded like Hyuuga Hinata now.

The light touch of her nose swept away any traces of pride from Sasuke. The gentle chakra glowing from Sakura melted a bit of his headache. His vision swam at the close-up: his former teammate's mouth looked so warm, inviting. When had Sakura gotten this kind of boldness? The foreign voice in him whooped at the peek of cleavage down the folds of her yukata.

"This is what you want, right?" Sakura's voice was low and breathy.

Sasuke could not find himself to retort. He wondered what it would be like to pin her down on the bed, and move away that constricting robe. But now, he just was tempted to tilt his head upward. Just by a little angle. That was all it would take.

Sakura blew lightly on Sasuke's mouth. Mingled with her breath were pink, tiny sparkles. She then slowly drew back.

A heavy drowse hit Sasuke. Then annoyance. How dare she initiate this, and then pull away at the last moment? Forgetting what exactly he had requested her in the first place, he forced his chin up.

Sasuke then collapsed into his pillow, fast asleep from the genjutsu.

Sakura's green eyes were wide open in shock. 'Did Sasuke just do... what I think he did?' She slowly edged away from his bed, as if his sleeping form were a cobra.

She picked up her sheathed sword, Tennyo. Holding it, she rigidly laid herself down on the straw mat near the fireplace.

Sakura's innards twisted from a strange emotion. She would have sworn it was fear, had anybody asked her. Nobody on whom Sakura had cast that sleep genjutsu had managed to stay awake for longer than two seconds. Whether the victim was the most gentlemanly, like Lee, or selfish and sex-crazed like some of the feudal lords she had encountered, they all went out like a light before Sakura's enchantment could tempt them any closer than what she was comfortable with.

But Sasuke had stayed awake, long enough to make physical contact with her — in a rather unbelievable manner — for four, five seconds. And he had not even used his Sharingan.

Sakura looked at the glowing embers of the fireplace. Timidly, she put a finger on her lower lip. She felt her heart rate increase.

Her eyes then scrunched shut. A sound between a sigh and a groan escaped Sakura as she rolled over on the mat.

'The Uchiha are not to be messed with,' Sakura decided, holding Tennyo close to her.

* * *

"A psychiatrist is a person who will give you expensive answers that your wife will give you for free."

* * *

The ANBU-captain made a heavy sigh. "Let's go back to the Leaf. We'll walk."

His lieutenant looked at the dark sky. "But captain, shouldn't we move faster?" he asked. "Orochimaru appeared, after all, and he could bring reinforcements."

The captain looked down. Even with the animal masks, he could feel the air of anxiety from the whole crew, not to mention the gloom of losing three of their best ninja of the Leaf. "Well..."

"The captain has the right idea."

Almost the entire squad turned their masked faces to Sai. For many of them, it was the first time they heard the artist say something positive about someone else.

Sai's face still had that impossibly blank expression, as if he were sleep-walking with open eyes. "Even if Orochimaru does send reinforcements, our quickest way out of this fog is to stay together. Running will risk us scattering."

The captain took another glance at the sparkling rock on the lake, the Sesshou-seki. "It would be dangerous to be lost in this evil place," he said. "Set to the ground."

"Roger!" Those who were in the trees immediately ran down. On the ground, they slowed, joining the rest of their comrades.

Sai felt goose bumps as he walked. He clutched his sides, remembering the moment Naruto disappeared. A hand suddenly thrust in front of him. Another ANBU-member held out an official black cloak. "You'll catch your death if you keep wearing those girly shirts," the voice behind the mask scoffed.

The artist recognized the crabby voice of the ANBU-trainer. Sai took the cloak, and wrapped it around himself. "Thank you, sir."

"You'd better find a better wardrobe if you want to die in a more ninja-like way," the trainer grumbled. They walked with the rest of the squadron. "Nice logic."

Sai gave a fake smile. "What do you mean?"

"You backed up the captain's decision, using the safety of the squadron as an excuse." The trainer tilted his head back, contemplating the stars that were visible. "All that hid your true motive: you want to linger around here a bit, to see if Uzumaki comes back."

The expression of the artist did not falter. "Interesting proposition. Is that your own wish as well?"

The trainer smiled behind the mask. "Perhaps."

"Why remove him and the Traitor out of your class, then?" Sai asked.

The other weakly laughed. "I'm one of the best trainers in the Leaf, because I make my subordinates hate me enough to unite against me." He noticed privately that the fog was thinning out. "I could tell you didn't like my decision to kick them out, either. That's good — you've made friends."

Sai looked a bit sheepish. "I don't know if that would be accurate," he said. "Both of them looked so upset with me every day. The books say that's a bad sign."

"Did you talk about anatomy?" the trainer asked. He saw Sai nod. "Well, there you go."

The group saw fewer and fewer trees. They were soon getting out of the grounds of the Sesshou-seki. Sai felt something pinch him inside, even though his lungs were sick of breathing chakra-infused air and were glad to get some fresh air. Naruto could be deep back in the clouded forest, for all he knew.

Meanwhile, the captain and his lieutenant were discussing an overview of the battle. "Well, Haruno's pretty much done for," said the second-in-command. "Why did she have to be so stupid, running from us? I thought she was level-headed!"

The captain frowned. "Maybe she is."

The other cocked an eyebrow. "Sir?"

The captain scratched his head. "Well, even though she slipped through our hands, we did get some new information." He then shuddered. "It'll make Morino Ibiki blow... I don't wanna be the messenger."

His lieutenant was puzzled. "I fail to understand what our torture specialist has anything to do with Haruno's case."

"Remember when Haruno had disappeared for a year?" the captain pointed out. "Several years ago."

"Of course," said the lieutenant. "She spouted off some _weird_ stuff at the questioning."

(( Morino Ibiki folded his hands on the table. On the other side, Haruno Sakura sat. Another medical ninja sat next to her, holding her wrists, monitoring for any change in pulse.

"Give me the truth, and you won't get your career stripped," Ibiki articulated. "Now, where have you been for the past year?"

"I _said_, I was in another dimension." Sakura looked irritated with the hot light above her, and the medical ninja checking her heart rate. "I know it sounds nuts. And I have no proof. But I did." ))

"Maybe she really had been in another place." The captain could not help but smile under his mask. Not only had his lieutenant turned mute, but his subordinates who had been otherwise been murmuring conversations to each other had suddenly gotten interested in their discussion. Technically that was eavesdropping, but that was the job of the ANBU. "Haruno used the world 'hagoromono,' right before she disappeared with those green ribbons. And we have never seen a cloth with such speed-enhancing abilities before. None of us reacted in time."

"Sasuke caught up with her," one ANBU-member dared to mention.

"That's because he's an Uchiha," another said. "And he's got it _bad_ for Haruno."

Sai leaned over to the ANBU-trainer. "What does 'got it bad' mean?"

Just when the other was about to open his mouth, the fog around them cleared — ridiculously fast. It was almost as if the mist had been sucked by a vacuum. The squadron turned around, and saw the most amazing thing: Uzumaki Naruto was running towards them.

The blond shinobi waved. "HEY!"

Being all elite ninja, they made a Tiger-In, and concentrated. 'Kai!'

Nothing changed. Naruto was still there. He was not an illusion. The captain began to stride towards him. "Uzumaki, you made it — that's —"

The captain's amazed relief was replaced with horror. At the heels of Naruto snapped an enormous fox. Blue flames surrounded it, and its eyes were blood-red with fury. It was the transformed Sesshou-seki demon.

"Naruto, why are you running towards _us_?" the ANBU-trainer yelled. "Sideways, sideways!"

"I can't! I lose speed if I take angles!" Naruto continued to sprint towards them. "She'll kill me if she reaches me!"

"She'll kill ALL of us, you idiot!" the trainer screamed. "Better you than the lot of us!" He took off to the side, as did the rest of the squadron. So much for taking care not to scatter.

"He's got a lot to learn." The lieutenant made several hand-seals, and slammed his hands to the ground. Walls of clay burst out, damming up the furious youkai in several layers while Naruto ran safely forward.

The first wall exploded, with the silver fox-demon bursting through. The captain repeated the same jutsu that his lieutenant had performed; five more walls rose up as barricades.

Naruto skidded, and turned around. "After me, Naruto," the Yondaime's voice echoed next to his ears. "I'll fit my hands with yours." Naruto saw the transparent hands of the dead Hokage combine with his own. Together, they went through a sequence of hand-seals that Naruto had force-learned only moments before in another realm.

Just when the last earthen wall was cracking, Naruto slammed his hands to the ground. A reddish-gold circle with one straight line appeared on the earth. The Sesshou-seki demon leapt after Naruto, lumps of earth surrounding her and her claws flashing white. _"Die!"_

Beams of reddish-gold chakra shot straight up of the sand circle. The fox-demon cried out as she banged against them. She looked up, and saw she was caged.

Naruto sunk his fingers deep in the soil. "Fuuin!"

The lieutenant was about to move forward, when the captain's arm moved up and blocked his way. "Captain?"

"Stay back." The squadron leader's voice was serious. "That sequence he just used — it's the legacy of the Yondaime Hokage."

Naruto let the Yondaime's mind overlap with his, if just for a moment. Through Naruto, the long-deceased hero called the enchantment.

"Fuuin Jutsu: Gofunkan no Banzoukou!" (Sealing Technique: the Band-Aid of Five Minutes)

The whole ANBU squad went stiff, wondering if they had correctly heard the title of Naruto's technique.

A strange, high-pitched note cut through the air. The sound turned lower and lower in frequency. The Sesshou-seki demon looked up. A long and dark object had appeared, and was falling above her. Something like a squeaky bark escaped her. A humungous band-aid fell from the sky, and fell on top of the fox-demon.

A flat seal remained. On the odd bandage were written the words, in beautiful calligraphy: -Dare take this off and you'll be cursed-

Naruto slowly cranked his head around, and looked at the Yondaime. The ghost looked like he was busting a gut in laughter. The teenager turned red from embarrassment: what had the dead Hokage just made him shout out in front of a whole ANBU squadron?

"What kind of name for a sealing is that?" Naruto demanded the ghost. "A _band-aid_?"

"Well, that's the shape it takes. You wanted a beginner's level sealing, right?" The Yondaime gave a wicked grin as his legs began to fade away.

"Don't you dare go to Nirvana just yet!" Naruto shouted.

"No, not yet." The Yondaime Hokage raised an arm towards Naruto. "For I will always be with you," he droned out dramatically. "Now hurry along. The demon won't chase after you if you're a good distance away from her stone." Then the ghost popped out of sight, much like Zashiki Warashi often had done.

Veins emerged from Naruto's fists. He relaxed his hands, and sighed. He then took off.

"Ah, running!" one ANBU-member called out.

"Of course I'm running!" Naruto yelled back. "You heard the stupid name of the technique! That fox-demon will be back out in five minutes!" He then began to wobble in his steps. "Huh...?"

Ten meters down, the blond shinobi fell flat on his face. He remained still. The squadron fell silent at the picture.

"Is he dead?" one asked.

Sai appeared next to the body. The artist checked the vital signs. "He's sleeping."

* * *

Notes:

"Fuuin Jutsu: Gofunkan no Banzoukou" - The jutsu that the Fourth Hokage developed and used, and later used by the Third, was "Fuuin Jutsu: Shiki Fuujin" (Sealing Technique: Demonic Soul Seal). I got the idea of a band-aid seal from the one-minute sealing spell in the anime Mahoujin Guru Guru.

"yobisute(ru)" - In Japanese conversation, calling someone by their name without a suffix like "-san" or "-kun", has the literal term "throwing away the name" or "trashing the name." When Sasuke said that Sakura did not trash his name, it doesn't necessarily mean she had been insulting him before. It was just that she had momentarily reverted back to using the "-kun" suffix when addressing him.

In Japanese society, calling someone by their name without a suffix or title, is usually reserved for relatives of equal or lower ranking, and close friends. It can also be easily used for enemies, and making enemies. If a person clearly has a rank or title above you, and you eliminate a suffix from their names without their permission, it means you do not acknowledge their relationship or superiority towards you. This is a major insult in Japanese society. This is why Sasuke calls Itachi simply as "Itachi"; he stopped calling him "Nii-san" like he used to, because Sasuke absolutely refuses to acknowledge him as his older brother. A near-death Sasuke mentioned his goal to Naruto of killing his "Aniki," but that is still a bit of a coarse title for a brother whom one used to call more affectionately.

For the sake of readers' sanity, and my own, I did not put in a cliffhanger. For once.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	47. Before Entering Hell

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

I just graduated with a B.A. in Political Science. My family will whisk me away tomorrow to Germany for two months as a graduation gift. In the fall I will start attending grad school.

"Quotations"

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

Chapter 47: Before Entering Hell

* * *

Uchiha Itachi stared at the scroll. He acted like he did not notice the tengu floating above him.

"A fourth human has gone through the Class Exchange." Despite the night atmosphere, the youkai's black wings reflected sheens of light. "And also seems to have caught up with Sakura-chan."

Without comment, Itachi peeled open the scroll.

-The third of your contract is another messenger.

White wings will grace the being, in contrast to your black.

Take heed of the name and temper,

For it shall reflect your current human contract.-

Itachi glanced up at the tengu. Then he looked at his Akatsuki ring, probably the most significant symbol of his membership in the circle. A kanji was engraved on it: -Shu-

Red. Vermilion. The color of lacquer. Itachi had received such a code name because of his eyes.

Itachi pulled aside his dirty bangs, thinking hard. The only person he knew whose name most closely matched the word 'red' was Kurenai, the genjutsu-specialist in his home village. But that conclusion appeared a bit too simplistic. Besides, the kanji she used in her name was a different one.

"Is his name Akahiko?"

The winged youkai tilted in mid-air for a moment. "Huh?"

Itachi's face remained emotionless. "Akira. Akio. Kazuaki."

"Oh, I see what you're doing. Rambling off every name which could match with the message." The tengu shook his head. "It sounds like you've been reading baby-name books." He made a horrified gasp. "Don't tell me... Oh, Itachi, you lecher, you were screwing around and making future heirs and —"

A fireball engulfed the tengu a moment later. Itachi strode away from the twitching heap.

The smoldering feathers fell away, revealing the tengu with a cleaner and newer coat. Youkai regeneration was indeed a gift. "I was only teasing you."

"I do not spend time with those who waste it." Itachi kept walking, having no intention of continuing a conversation with the demon that attempted to make jokes with him.

Black wings projected out from the youkai. The monster raven was immediately in front of Itachi. "I can't give the exact name. But you're correct, Itachi, that the one coming to assist you and Minoru has such a name, reflecting your ring." A newer, more dangerous glint was in the bird's eye. "But do not underestimate that one. The third has more power than Minoru."

Itachi tipped his straw hat, before turning away completely and continuing to walk. The tengu could not decide whether the gesture meant 'I'll make a mental note of that,' or simply 'Whatever.' Chances were that it was the latter. The tengu groaned, before fading into a sea of black feathers.

* * *

Hanabi stooped over in front of the water spout, watching the cool liquid fill the canister she was holding. Glass panes and warm, toasty air surrounded her. She stood in the common greenhouse of Konoha, where people rented plots to care for their plants.

Hanabi shut off the water, and turned to look for Hinata's potted herbs. Her older sister had tried out her own garden plot on the Hyuuga grounds when Naruto had introduced her to gardening, but there were several rare medical herbs that could only be grown in a greenhouse. Hanabi regularly came to the here to check on the plants, almost as a ritual since her sister's disappearance.

"Hey, you're a Hyuuga!"

At the sound of the chirpy voice, Hanabi looked up. She saw a boy around her age, with a Leaf hitai-ate on his forehead. His brown hair looked like it had exploded upward. "Who the hell are you?" asked Hanabi.

Konohamaru was a bit taken aback. Few in the village were unfamiliar with him. If they were not old enough to remember that he was the Third's grandson, he soon etched himself in their memories by other means, usually through pranks. He introduced himself to the small girl. "I'm Sarutobi Konohamaru. You?"

Hanabi suppressed a frown. Konohamaru gave an unmistakably Naruto-esque smile, which already made her decide he was annoying. "I have no reason to give you my full name," said Hanabi, turning away to look for her sister's plants. "If you live up to the Sarutobi family name, you can figure it out yourself."

A vein emerged from Konohamaru's forehead as she walked off. 'Brat!' He walked behind her, not because he was following her, but because she was going in the same direction where he was supposed to go.

Hanabi finally spotted the herbs that her sister grew. She opened the notebook in which Hinata had recorded how much water each plant needed. She glanced at Konohamaru, who had moseyed up next to her. "Do you mind?"

"I have my own business here, too."

Hanabi looked at the plants Konohamaru watered. She almost dropped her spray bottle on top of Hinata's herbs when she saw that the larger plot near Hinata's herbs was entirely owned by Uzumaki Naruto.

Konohamaru grinned at the wide-eyed Hanabi. "Do you know Naruto-niichan? He's amazing, isn't he? He's kinda obsessed with gardening as a hobby." He flung a spray of water from his canister over the mass of flower pots. "You should get to know him, he..."

Hanabi felt anger grow inside of her at the thought of Naruto. Konohamaru's praised died on her ears. The mind lapse reminded her of how lonely she again felt in the house of Hyuuga. Her older sister, Hinata, was still missing, and Naruto took off for months, without coming back.

Her foot found ceramic.

The crash in the Konoha greenhouse made Konohamaru jump.

A twisted plant lay in the heap of soil, unsupported. Hanabi had kicked over a potted sunflower. "Hyuuga!" Konohamaru held his empty watering can, bewilderment in his face. "What the hell?"

"Shut up." Hanabi glared at him, indifferent to the soil strewn about her feet.

"That was Naruto-niichan's flower!" Konohamaru was now angry: clearly, the girl before him was just making a temper tantrum. "He was growing it precisely for his girlfriend!"

Hanabi's lip curled. "A common sunflower for Onee-sama? I know that the flower turns to sunshine, but that is too cheesy."

Konohamaru looked at her carefully. "You must be Hanabi. Naruto-niichan once mentioned that Hinata-neechan had an overprotective sister."

"You have no right to refer to her that way!" Hanabi aimed a few fingers at Konohamaru.

Having no idea of how to dodge a Hyuuga move, Konohamaru put up the metal canister as a block, and hoped for the best. It worked: Hanabi winced as her better hand's middle and index fingers bend backward against inorganic steel. He grabbed her, hoping to stop her from being violent. She then decided to use a 'commoner's' move: she bit his arm.

Konohamaru shouted in surprise and pain. In retaliation, he pulled on her hair. "Hyuuga brat!"

Amid scratches, tugs, flimsy punches and screeches, the two of them ended up rolling on the ground in a violent but rather infantile tussle.

Now Hanabi was somewhat glad she had decided to destroy that thing, of all of Naruto's possessions. She had been sick with worry her sister's disappearance for months, and justifiable irritated, not just at the hush-hush attitude at the Hyuuga mansion, but especially towards Naruto's incompetence in finding his own girlfriend. Hanabi had a few times thought of messing up Naruto's apartment, but she did not even know how to wreck large-scale property. One plant, though, was not half bad of a target.

"Jeez, your grudge against Naruto-niichan is making you look _stupid_!" Konohamaru pinned Hanabi down by the shoulders on the concrete floor. "The moment I tell you gardening is his hobby, you go on destroying his plants!"

"It was _one_ plant," Hanabi mumbled, irritated she had to regard the idiot above him as her senpai. "Besides, you don't have proof that it was intentional!"

Konohamaru growled. "Flat chest!"

Hanabi's pale eyes flashed. This was no longer about her sister or Naruto anymore. Being eleven years old and still having not yet seen one sign of puberty, she was rather sensitive about anything that mentioned her womanly attributes, or lack thereof. With a flexible flip of her leg and her quick eyes, she aimed to knee him where any male went howling.

Before she could, a familiar voice echoed in the greenhouse. "Hanabi-sama!"

The two froze, and looked up — Hyuuga Neji stood, a bit stiff at the scene before him. Konohamaru immediately unhanded her, and Hanabi scrambled up and ran towards Neji.

The jounin took Hanabi by the hand, and led her out of the greenhouse. He would ask about what she had been doing with the Sarutobi boy later; now there was a more urgent matter. "Uzumaki Naruto has returned with an ANBU squad. There's an emergency clan meeting, with him as the guest of honor."

"What?" Hanabi squawked. "You mean, he's found Onee-sama?"

"Well..."

Konohamaru hastily repotted the sunflower plant and soil back in, before he picking himself up and followed the two Hyuuga.

* * *

- Diplomacy with Clans: Family Meetings

If you're ever invited, alone, to a clan meeting of which you are not a member, take into consideration the first option: run.

Not run, literally. They'll catch up to you. But come up with every excuse you can think of, until you find some form of adequate accompaniment to such a meeting. Said accompaniment should be a shinobi of a very high rank, that not even an entire ninja clan will dare try to curse you with some sort of technique or seal.

Usually, any Kage who is good enough to not allow clans messing up the population of shinobi, and generally hates paperwork, will be happy to accompany you. If a Kage is unwilling, find some other powerful ninja to come as your backup.

If you have allies who are in the clan, congratulations. You've got half the meeting done already. But, make sure that it is not too obvious that you have their support. They are probably staking their own lives speaking up for you.

A final note: clans can and will invite non-clan members over for almost any reason. They are still human, after all. But according to the records so far compiled, invitations for outsiders to a whole family gathering, can usually be categorized into three different occasions: making a treaty with the guest, punishing the guest for killing one of their more important clan members, or arranging a wedding between a member and the guest.

Which means, if you are ever invited to a family reunion of theirs, you're probably doomed. -

* * *

Sakura's bare legs slipped into the black hakama. "Don't you dare look!"

"Who'd want to?" Sasuke stood with his back towards the kunoichi as she dressed. He was already donned in his own clothes, as he had naturally woken up early.

Sakura tightened her belt, and set the sheathed Tennyo at her waist. She was about to reach for the silver Kusanagi, but then saw that it was already gone. She looked to the side, and saw Sasuke checking its grip. "May I have that?"

The Uchiha gave her a cool glance. "No."

"And I suppose you know how to carry a sword without a scabbard."

Sasuke shrugged. "I had one piece of the Kusanagi back in the Hidden Sound, and sometimes it could hang without a scabbard."

"Hanging it is dangerous. And you could manage it only because that S&M butt-bow of yours was made of some unknown material," said Sakura. "The Kusanagi is supposed to cut through anything, right? If you try to wear it with a leather belt, your pants may very well fall down."

Even the mention of such a possibility made Sasuke feel somewhat vulnerable around this blunt-mouthed Sakura. 'And what the hell is S&M?' Sasuke wondered. Instead, he grabbed a thick roll of gauze from a cabinet, and began wrapping the silver Kusanagi.

"Those are medical bandages!"

"You have more than enough." Sasuke skillfully latched the covered sword to his compact backpack. He had been trained in how to wear and maintain an ANBU uniform, so something like this was easy.

"Where is the black Kusanagi?" asked Sakura.

"Down the throat of one of my calling snakes." Sasuke began to walk out the cave. "Let's go. We'll look for the rest together."

Sakura crossed her arms. "Excuse me?"

"If the Kusanagi pieces accepted both of us, then there is no point fighting for possession." Sasuke picked up Sakura's own packet. "My bloodline plus your medical skills would be efficient."

Sakura swallowed. She seemed deep in thought for a while. "...All right."

The Uchiha contained his surprise at how easily she complied.

"However, you will chip in for your food," Sakura said in a warning tone. "And you will not make needless fights to attract soldiers." She strode out of the cave. "I know the terrain around here, so don't separate from me for the first two kilometers."

The morning sun met their eyes. When their vision adjusted, Sakura led Sasuke to a worn pathway.

"Where are we, anyway?" Sasuke asked.

"We're in the eastern part of the Rain Country."

Instead of going slack-jawed like any normal person would, the Uchiha raised an eyebrow. Sakura had basically told him that they had warped a few countries. Sasuke decided not to comment, and instead examined the surroundings to check the validity of her claim, by his own five senses.

The valley dipped down, and not only rice fields but also orchards of fruit and vegetable gardens dotted the landscape. By noon, a city came into view. By the shape of its high walls, Sasuke could already identify it as Mizumai, one of the most prosperous fortresses in the Rain Country.

Sakura drew out a flat wallet, and pulled some papers out. Among them, there was a worn photo. "This is the current daimyô of this area. His name is Suisei. There are rumors that he has in possession the Kusanagi, and that's why he's been successful in leading his troops into battle."

"How do you plan on finding it?" asked Sasuke.

"I don't really believe he has it. But I have to check it out anyway." Sakura tipped her green straw hat, shading all her pink hair brown. "Tonight, there's a gathering of lesser lords who wish to make their allegiance with Suisei. A week-long discussion of battle tactics will follow, supposedly."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "A week seems too long to discuss battle tactics."

"A week is what this invitation says." Sakura showed him the letter. "I got this from a poorer lord, Kurogami, who wishes to have his kidnapped sister back. But Kurogami is afraid to come here himself, as it will trap him." Sakura stuffed the item back into its envelope. "The strategy of this Suisei, it seems, is that his 'recruiting' methods look similar to the old form of exile."

Sasuke thought back to history classes of Ninja Academy. "The detainment of the rulers at the main city, while their subjects stay back in the territories."

Sakura nodded. "Suisei started his campaign in the Rain Country by inviting the lesser lords and governors to 'parties' at the Mizumai fortress. But they can't even leave the city. The only thing the people in the provinces get back are Mizumai representatives, with letters declaring them 'temporary governors.' Once this tactic was noticed throughout the Rain Country, lords were more reluctant to go. Suisei resorted to kidnappings, and then one lord finally snapped and sent troops to one of the allied provinces. That was the official start of the civil war here."

'Thus the rumors of Suisei's madness.' Sasuke calculated the danger of the mission. If lords came into but never out of that city, and Sakura had an invitation that was meant for a lord, then... 'No,' Sasuke thought. 'Sakura wouldn't disguise herself as a lord.' His black eyes then locked upon her strides. **'YES, yes she would!'**

"You're walking like a man." Sasuke now understood the endeavor she was planning, and he clearly disapproved.

"Aren't I good?" Sakura grinned at him in triumph. "I'll act as the poor and new lord Kurogami. Since you're more an assassin-type ninja anyway, you can be my bodyguard for hire."

Sasuke scowled. "Why don't I take the lordship role?"

"You don't have traditional clothes like I do," Sakura said. "Besides, if you took the lord part, what part would that leave me? Feudal lords rarely use kunoichi as bodyguards."

They were nearing the gates. Sakura opened up the envelope, and pulled out the letter for the guard to certify her entrance. She said no word, only giving a curt nod as he let her and Sasuke through.

The Uchiha had an uneasy feeling as they walked through the streets. People in lavish but rather dirty silk robes wandered about the area, as if in a daze. A few rather fat lords were enjoying themselves, but there were only few. The townsfolk only seemed happy to serve them, no matter what attitudes they happened to be in.

Sakura took a gulp of Minoru's tonic. She then strode forward, determined to do this right.

Two steps into the front gates of the palace, a wave of aura washed over them. Both had felt it.

"Keep going," Sakura murmured. Her green eyes then widened at the sound of her voice: it had not changed to sound like a man's! That shield they had just passed must have nullified the potion-drink. Sakura calmed herself down — she could easily force her voice to a lower pitch. It was kind of annoying to do, but she had done it before.

"That was a chakra shield," said Sasuke as they approached another gate.

"You think I don't know that?" Sakura hissed back. "At least it wasn't the beginning of a force-field." The medic-nin pulled out the letter again to a second set of guards. They took it, read it over, and handed it back.

The two walked on.

"Um, Kurogami-dono? Is your hand broken?"

Sasuke stiffened. Although it had not been addressed to him, the very nature of the question was a bad foreboding.

Sakura turned around. She saw that the guard looked increasingly critical. "It says on the report here that Kurogami-dono is left-handed."

Sakura felt a chill go through her. She had not even taken note of that about the poor lord when she had met him. And she had given, taken, and stamped the papers with her right hand.

"Seize him!"

Sakura gritted her teeth as the armored men surrounded her. She was about to throw them off, when one of the guards groped her chest. Apparently, he was smart enough to understand what chest bindings felt like, because he yelled out the next moment, "Hey, it's a _woman_!"

Sakura suddenly realized that Sasuke had disappeared, along with her wallet and all the papers she had held in her montsuki-shirt. 'That bastard!' Her anger dripped more chakra into her fists; within another second, she was ready to use her superhuman strength.

But then her eyes caught the many people around her. She was not used to fighting in the same area where commoners were; her attack methods usually damaged wide spaces. Breaking up a road could result in broken bones of innocent standbys.

Sakura felt a painful zap through her body.

If she had time, she would have cried. She should have known Sasuke would abandon her the first chance he got.

* * *

Sakura woke up in a cool, dark room. She was surprised to feel something of a soft futon under her.

Although it was very comfortable, it was also somewhat disturbing. Was she not supposed to be a prisoner, or had that whole ordeal with the guards of Mizumai Fortress been just all a nightmare?

The lights suddenly turned on. Sakura guarded herself as shadows flitted about her — she automatically turned around when someone caught her back.

It was a maid. In fact, they were all maids.

"My Lady, you're finally awake!" The eldest-looking assistant grabbed her, and began combing Sakura's pink hair.

Sakura was too stunned to come up with a proper reaction. Before she knew it, she was literally being carried to a bathing area.

Sakura felt very near violated as the women stripped her of her white robe — how did she get into it naked, anyway? — and began to scrub her. "I-I can wash my own body, thank you!" Sakura nearly shrieked, taking the loofah away from one girl.

"Ma'am, you must hurry, you husband is waiting!"

Sakura wondered whether it was all some sort of sick joke. "H-husband," she croaked. The medic-nin then remembered that the lord Suisei's tactics of taking people hostage. Did he make the female hostages his concubines? 'No friggin' way! It'll ruin _everything_!"

The women ended up doing most of the work after all. Sakura was in enough of an agonized confusion to go along wordlessly with the charade. Apparently, she had landed herself into a very bad fix, and she just would have to wait for an opening. Besides, she had no idea how to do this dressing all on her own.

The maids flitted away, leaving her in a much too expensive kimono, an exotic hairstyle, and a touch of make-up.

Sakura swallowed. The voice of a man was approaching the door. The sound of his laughter rang hollow to her ears.

The painted door opened. A middle-aged man with long, salt-and-pepper hair appeared in the doorway. Gold embroidery lined his many kimonos of silk. There were dark circles under his eyes, and what looked to be a leer.

Sakura froze under his gaze. 'What do I do?' She had never been in such a situation before. Hell, even Jiraiya was better, because at least Sakura had permission to punch him if she ever caught him peeping.

"Oh, my." The man glanced at another shadow in the hallway. "What luck to have such a beautiful woman."

Sakura felt her breath hitch in her throat. The second shadow made itself known. Sasuke stood dressed in the clothing of a feudal lord, only a meter away from Suisei himself. Although Sasuke's robes were made of solid blacks and blues and lacked embroidery, the poise in which the Uchiha wore them made him look more dignified than the real feudal lord.

He walked into the room, and knelt down to Sakura's eye-level. "Forgive my wayward wife, Suisei-dono," said Sasuke. "It was my fault for not keeping an eye on her."

Sakura's head spun. '_Wife?_'

The young Uchiha had the gall to smirk at her.

* * *

Notes:

"Mizumai" - "mizu" means 'water'; "mai" means 'dance' or 'movement.'

"Suisei" - means 'force of (water) current.'

"Kurogami" - 'black paper'. "kuro" means 'black'; "gami" is "kami" or 'paper' after it has been modified by an adjective.

Mm, short chapter compared to the more recent ones. Sorry, but I'm in a rush, and I need an intermediate chapter to make the setting for the next plot arc.

And no, I will not bring my laptop to Germany, because I will be way too distracted with other things to even try to write fanfiction.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	48. Shikigami

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property. I'm a STUDENT; that's why I'm poor, okay?

The evil known as me has returned. The trip to Germany was awesome, although also extremely exhausting. I'll probably hear myself still swearing in German until orientation in grad school. Which comes a few weeks from now.

A lot of reviewers commented that the last chapter seemed short. Well, it was. But it was just about as long as the beginning chapters of this story, knocking around 3,000 words. I thought if I jam-packed it with some weird twists, it wouldn't be noticeable — but apparently, it was noticed.

This chapter I had a little less time pressure with, so it's began to near 10,000 words, in tradition with the more recent chapters. Then a cute scene came up in my mind, I added it on impulse, and now it's a whopping 12,000! A lot of ideas from fans were input into this chapter (Zoneshifter D and Jigglypuff), as well as some editing of previous chapters (Katana Haibane), so many thanks to all those smart and creative thinkers out there!

x

I can't say this often enough: this story is rated T / PG-13.

x

"Quotations"

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

x

Chapter 48: Shikigami

* * *

Hinata stirred. The first thing she felt was the breeze passing her by. Sweat was soaking her clothes. She felt a futon underneath her, _again_. How many times was she going to faint until she got used to her new status as a Shaman?

She tried to open her eyes. Something was inhibiting the action, as if her eyelids would not move. Panic rose in her.

Minoru's soothing voice interrupted her terrified thoughts. "You have hardened mucus gluing together your eyelashes."

Hinata was more relieved that disgusted when she carefully pulled the material from her eyes. It hurt a bit as a few lashes were tweezed, but at least she could see. For a moment, she had thought the seal on her eyelids had done something to her. Hinata then blinked at Minoru's form, leaning on an elbow-rest. An oil-lamp flickered nearby. The priest's apprentice must have been watching over her, perhaps for hours.

"A trance fell over you the moment you sensed that Naruto was possibly dead," Minoru said. "The experience must have made your tear ducts overreact."

Hinata shuffled away from the elf in embarrassment. Her priestess robes already stank of old sweat. "I-I'm sorry for troubling you."

"Nonsense." Minoru covered a yawn with a long, bony hand. "That was the best mind transfer I have seen from a beginner in decades. A touch shaky in control, but it is a gift."

"What else would you expect from Hinata-neechan?"

Hinata's head shot up at the small, laughing voice. A boy with glowing skin and a red kimono was floating above them. His black, shaggy hair was familiar.

"Warashi-chan!" Hinata was ecstatic. "You're safe!"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Zashiki Warashi floated downward, and his slightly transparent feet touched the floor. "That kamikakushi spell your pops cast on you was pretty strong; the force threw me into a portal."

'So it was Chichi-ue who had sent me,' Hinata thought. She looked sadly at Warashi. "I'm sorry that my father did that to you. I'm sure he didn't mean to."

"Well, it _was_ kinda hard getting out of a demon realm," Warashi said. "But all that effort got me a promotion." He spun around, letting his red robes flutter about. "I'm not just a guardian ghost now!"

The Priestess stared at the child. "You're a kami?" Hinata asked. Minoru gave a frown at the ghost.

"I'm on my way of being one," Warashi said. He had a wide grin. "Check this out." He stepped up to Hinata, and hugged her mid-rift.

The physical touch amazed her for a moment. She then felt herself bursting with love and happiness for Warashi, and she embraced him back. "Warashi-chan, I'm so proud of you!" She stroked his black hair, which produced a dimple on his left cheek.

"And you're a Shaman now," Warashi said to Hinata. Warashi turned to Minoru, whose blue eyes held a suspicious look. "May I have the honor to give her the first lessons?"

"I am not the one to ask." The blond elf pointed at the irate, golden spirit floating next to him. "It was _his_ sanctuary you entered without permission." Minoru stood up, and left the room. "By the way," he said before leaving, "lovely shadow you have."

Zashiki Warashi flinched in Hinata's arms. The blue-haired girl wondered what the other had meant, until she saw the lines on the floor. Its shape looked as if she were embracing thin air.

Warashi possessed no shadow.

He looked down sadly at the tatami mat. "I don't really know if this counts as a physical body," he mumbled. "I just have a new switch, whether or not to have the sense of touch." Surprise came over Warashi when she just held him closer.

"How does it feel?" Hinata did not care about the specifics of Warashi's physiology. What she wanted was for him to enjoy an experience that most living humans took for granted: the sense of touch.

Warashi's cheeks turned pink at the attention. "It's... nice." The small boy pulled away, and turned to the spirit Ikazuchi, who now was flanked with a growling wolf pup. "Um, may I use your facilities to train Hinata-neechan?"

"As you are the guardian ghost of the Priestess, I grant you access to the sacred fire," Ikazuchi's voice echoed. "But if anything goes wrong, you will have to answer to my ward." The spirit blitzed out with a clap of thunder, leaving a wolf pup sitting in the hallway, with a chiseled eye on Zashiki Warashi.

"Um, okay," Warashi croaked out. "Let's start the basics of shikigami, shall we?" His feet tapped the hallways as he made his way to the sacred fire. His eyes seemed to dance, as if feeling the wood under his feet were the most wonderful bliss he had experienced in ages.

"Warashi-chan, do you know where to go?" Hinata asked, hurrying after Warashi.

"I feel my way towards sacred objects. There!"

Warashi ran towards a door.

He banged against it.

Hinata covered her mouth as Warashi sprawled on the floor, flat of his back. A small imprint was left on the sliding door, which was probably going to be expensive to replace.

The ghost sat up, and then did the strangest thing: he began to cry. "Oh, Warashi-chan." Hinata touched his hurt nose with a soft handkerchief. This was the first time she saw Zashiki Warashi actually cry. It was odd, seeing an age-old child sob truthfully with no tears.

The ghost-boy sniffed. "That... really hurt." He rubbed his nose.

"Well, of course it does." Hinata picked up Warashi, who was as light as air. Before she could touch the door, it opened for her.

The head priest had an annoyed look upon his face, at first. His features softened at the sight of the young lady, holding a boy swathed in red robes.

"Good morning," Hinata said politely. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you. Could I watch over the fire?"

The priest took one glance at her arms. Warashi blinked back.

"Is that a house sprite?" asked the priest.

"You can see me?" Warashi looked impressed. "Finally, a priest who can _see_ me!"

"This is Zashiki Warashi," Hinata introduced, boosting up the child in her arms.

"Uh... of course." The slightly balding man walked away, in half of a daze. "Have fun."

The Priestess and her guardian ghost entered the room. "Now, let's do this right away." Warashi grabbed on a low table nearby. He tugged at it, and stumbled back on his rear.

"I think you need your own training with the sense of touch, Warashi-chan," Hinata said, gracefully putting the table next to the sitting-pillow. She sat down. The sacred fire crackled to her right.

"Okay, next is the fuda," Warashi pointed at a nearby stack of blank wards, deciding to use his magic instead of physical touch to transport them. The strips of paper lifted from the corner, and piled themselves neatly in front of Hinata. The ghost whipped his hand towards a pair of scissors — it immediately began to cut the strips of paper, trimming them at odd angles.

A piece of trimmed paper settled in front of Hinata. The sacred fire crackled nearby. A pen-brush floated from a pen box, and inserted itself between Hinata's fingers.

"Is there anybody you want to talk to, Hinata-neechan?" Warashi asked.

"Naruto-kun."

Warashi shrugged his shoulders. That had not been too difficult to guess. "Okay, write, 'to Uzumaki Naruto' on the paper."

Hinata looked at him. "Don't I need ink first?"

The ghost shook his head. "No, you have to use your chakra as ink."

Hinata felt a bit foolish as she let the white, dry bristles touch the paper. She motioned her wrists to write the words. She then lifted the pen up, and stared at the blank sheet.

Warashi drew in breath through his teeth. "You know, embarrassment is kind of a hindrance in making a working shikigami."

"I'm sorry. It's just... so strange, writing without ink," said Hinata. "And even when I power chakra into my hands, it doesn't come out through the brush."

"Hinata-neechan, you have to feel like... nothing comes out of you." Warashi scratched his head, trying to find an analogy. "What is drinking from an empty cup all about?"

"Well... It's a special tea ceremony."

"But you're not drinking anything," argued Warashi. "It's just the movements. There is no actual tea. Therefore, by common sense, it's a useless act, right?"

"Well, yes and no," said Hinata. "It's... difficult to describe the feeling of drinking nothing, but..."

"Form is nothingness. Nothingness is form. Everything is nothingness." Warashi smiled at the amazed look from Hinata. "I also learned Zen at one time, Hinata-neechan."

"Writing with nothing." Hinata gulped at the table. "That's easier said than done."

"Yet you can drink from an empty cup." Warashi gave a smile of encouragement to Hinata. "It's the same thing with this spell. Put your energy into the _act_ of writing, not the product of writing itself."

Hinata swallowed. She lowered the brush, and began to write, this time much more slowly. She thought of Naruto's laugh, his smile, his bravery...

Hinata gasped. Naruto's name was glowing, brilliantly white, making the paper dull in comparison. She stroked the postposition at the end, _-kun-,_ finishing it with endearment.

The characters then faded away.

The paper was back to normal. It lay there, doing nothing.

Hinata groaned, and started on a new sheet. It was easier bringing out the act, but now the products seemed to be defective. She made another, then another, then another.

Hinata kept writing, new sheet after new sheet, determined to complete the spell. She even wrote down names other than Naruto's, in case there was some sort of jinx around her boyfriend that was preventing the paper from finding him. 'After all,' Hinata thought, her dry pen making shining trails before fading, 'Naruto-kun was in contact with the Sesshou-seki, and...' She tried not to think about the white-haired demoness, instead writing on and on.

"Warashi-chan, how long do you think it will take until I make one that _works_?" Hinata said, a slight whine in her voice.

"Huh?"

Hinata paused, and looked up. Warashi was holding his hands at the sacred fire, with an expression of being caught red-handed. Apparently, he had been trying to learn the sensation of fire during the time she had been working, and then had become absorbed in the warmth.

The ghost looked at the loose stack of papers at the other end of the table. "Hinata-neechan, how many did you make? You only need one!"

"But the writing disappeared!" Hinata said.

"It's supposed to do that!" Warashi said. The low table began to shake. "Oh, bugger."

A strip of paper whizzed up, and flew around the room. Within seconds, its siblings followed after. Hinata felt her vision drown in white as her head angled up. A whirlwind of paper danced around the room, spiraling with the heat of the sacred fire.

Warashi shoved open the door. As he did so, he tripped. A split-second later, the shikigami bulleted into the hallways, and out of the building. The ghost then realized on the floor that his effort to save the door probably had not been necessary, as he had already made a good body imprint on its opposite side.

"Oh no, Warashi-chan!" The Priestess ran over to the ghost, and picked him up. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, I'm getting used to it. Pain, I mean."

Hinata was pale as she looked at the trail of scraps down the hall. Evidently, there had been too many shikigami cramming in the hallway, making some of them shred one another as they flew. "I'll have to clean this up. Ikazuchi-sama and the priest will be so angry..."

"What in the _name_ of all heavenly realms is this?" Minoru's voice reverberated from a corner of the hallway.

"... and Minoru-san," Hinata peeped.

Warashi looked sheepishly at the mess. "Well, at least we'll have spares when they get out there."

* * *

"I'll leave you two to survey your room," said Suisei. A servant closed the door behind him.

Sakura was still in shock. The Uchiha walked over to the closet, where the futon mattresses were folded and stored. He opened it, checked the bedding, and activated his Sharingan for just a second before slamming it shut.

Sakura finally managed to speak. "What is all this?"

Sasuke noticed a faintly protruding line on the wall, near the window. He walked over, and traced his finger over the line. "We're on the second floor of the palace's living quarters." He found a metal ring, and twisted it. The lights flickered a moment.

"Please tell me what is going on here," Sakura demanded.

"Old listening technology." Sasuke walked away from the damaged bug lines, and sat down in front of Sakura. "The moment the guards discovered you, I took your papers and zapped you unconscious."

Sakura's face remained impassive. "You abandoned me."

"I slipped in the crowd, and processed to visit a barber," Sasuke continued, fingering away a few strands of his smartly trimmed hair. "I used a summoning scroll to obtain a set of robes in an alley, put them on, and came back to the gates. I showed them the papers, and told them that my newly-wed wife, the daughter of a martial arts instructor, had rebelliously run away from me and asked whether they had possibly seen her cross-dressing."

"You," said Sakura, "are incredibly nuts. You did all this, just to get more comfortable living standards?"

"Do you think I like these heavy robes?" said Sasuke, a bit irritated. "You were the one who had slipped."

"How was I supposed to know they investigated lords that far?" Sakura asked. "At least they didn't take pictures! From my knowledge, you also are right-handed."

A laugh was muffled in Sasuke's throat. "No, I'm not."

"You're left-handed?" Sakura could not remember such a thing of him. She could have sworn she had seen him write notes and take tests with his right hand in Ninja Academy.

He moved, putting his face close to hers. "I'm ambidextrous." His tongue rolled as he said it.

Sakura sat silent for a while, shaking.

Sasuke observed that she had a rather pretty blush staining her cheeks, as if embarrassed. Was it because of their close proximity, or just how miserably she failed in infiltrating the court? Interesting, he thought.

Finally, she relaxed. "Very well, _my lord_. I shall fulfill my role as you say."

She put a hand up to Sasuke's cheek, with a sweet, slightly happy expression. For a moment, the Uchiha was mesmerized by her smile.

"Would you say my name?" Sakura asked with an almost sexy innocence, as if she were new lover. Her green eyes asked, of course, that Sasuke tell her what pseudonym he had chosen for her, if any.

"Sakura...ko," Sasuke forced out.

Sakura blinked. Her raised eyebrows asked if she had heard him right.

"Sakurako." It was the truth; that was what he had chosen for her. It had happened when the guards had asked him his wife's name. For some reason, "Sakura" had spilled out all too quickly, and then Sasuke had added "ko" at the end to modify it a bit.

Well, Sakurako _was_ a girl's name. Maybe he should have tried something more original, but at least it would be easy to remember. He would have to work with feudal lords in this palace, as well as read over that encyclopedia of demons and monsters, so there would be enough new names on his mind to memorize.

A smile resurfaced on the medic-nin. Sakura trailed a fingertip lightly down his chin, making him inwardly shiver. "Thank you."

The Uchiha considered returning a "You're welcome" — until a second later, when a searing pain covered his left cheek.

Sakura had punched him. Not chakra-hard, but hard enough to cause him to lose his balance.

She stood up, holding her fist. It was slightly shaking. "You... should be on your guard next time," Sakura said in a wavering voice.

Sasuke groaned on the tatami-mat, cradling his jaw. He watched her upside-down legs stomp off, before she closed the sliding door with the fling of a socked foot. Indeed, the kunoichi was fulfilling her role as an un-ladylike, spiteful woman who had been forced into marriage with a man she loathed.

* * *

A maid led two shinobi into a large, tatami-covered room. "The elders will come soon to join you." Giving a coy wave to the older one, she stepped back in the hallway.

Jiraiya's perverted grin fell when the door shut. He dropped himself on a sitting cushion. "Why do I have to come to this?"

Naruto slumped down in his own seat. "Because they want to kill me."

"Where's the perkiness I usually hear when you're about to meet high-class ninja?"

"Well, excuse me for having barely slept for forty-eight hours!" Naruto snapped.

"You should feel honored that the Hyuuga patriarch himself sent you an invitation to an emergency clan meeting." Jiraiya reached under the chest of his kimono, and scratched the side of his ribcase. "As nice as it is that you consider me something of a legal guardian, you could have chosen someone else."

Naruto rolled his eyes. He refrained from saying that he valued Iruka as more of an adoptive father than Jiraiya had ever treated him. It was just that Jiraiya was a sannin, and Iruka was not. Naruto did not want to put a lone Academy teacher against an army of advanced bloodline carriers.

Emergency clan meeting. It had to be a death sentence, if Yondaime's observation of traditional clans was accurate. By some grace of divinity, the bathhouses were closed at noon, which was the only reason why Jiraiya was willing to stand in as backup for him. In case the clan did unleash some old-fashioned justice upon Naruto for not bringing back their heiress, he at least wanted an opening to escape. He wished to look for Hinata a second time, of course.

'They want to kill me.' The words repeated in Naruto's brain as each Hyuuga opened the door, closed it behind, and positioned themselves at the table. Separately. One at a time. The only thing that relieved Naruto about this meeting was that it was mandatory only for its elders. A few younger Hyuuga were in attendance, but half the seats were still vacant, giving less of a claustrophobic atmosphere to the room.

The last to arrive was, of course, the grim-faced Hyuuga Hiashi. He seated himself directly opposite of Naruto. "Uzumaki Naruto, do you understand why you are here?"

Naruto folded his sweaty hands under the table. "Yes. Yes, I do."

"And what is that?" continued Hiashi.

Naruto's fingers tightened over his knees. "I failed to bring back Hinata." He did not mention the disappearance of Sakura followed by Sasuke; they were of little concern to the Hyuuga clan anyway, and only would make him look worse.

"We never sent you a direct order to look for my daughter," Hiashi said. "It was on a voluntary basis that you went on such a search."

Naruto did not retort. Instead, he let Hiashi's words replay in his mind. There was no tone that was accusatory or mocking. Hiashi did not even reprimand him for sneaking out of the village, or using legal loopholes to justify it.

Hiashi nodded to a Hyuuga sitting near Naruto. The man gave one nod back, and drew from the low table what looked like a damaged, square briefcase. He opened it, and set a scroll on the table, followed by a set of carved crystal figurines.

Naruto felt childhood memories rush into him. "Hey, it's that one game!" After he had gotten discouraged with Go and Shougi (Shikimaru beat every challenger anyway), Iruka gave a nine-year-old Naruto a game that one could play alone. "The Zodiac Star, or something like that, right?"

"That is the name of its most recent incarnation, yes," said the Hyuuga next to him. "But this is a bit more complicated." In addition to the twelve Zodiac animals, he pushed over several other pieces. Naruto recognized the figure of a cat, a tengu, and several demonic faces that looked like miniature Noh-theater masks.

"Give him Number 32," Hiashi called over the table.

The other nodded, before opening up the scroll. Intricately painted circles passed by Naruto's interested eyes. They somehow seemed extremely familiar, more familiar than any nostalgia of childhood. Instead of innocence, the patterns radiated something else, like the feeling of darkness and imprisonment.

The circle was set before Naruto. Jiraiya frowned. "Why are you trying to prove, Hiashi?"

Naruto lifted a piece, and moved it on the puzzle.

Jiraiya looked at what his student just did. "Boy, where did you learn to do that?"

"I don't know," replied Naruto in honesty. He had not even known before that the game could actually include the cat, which according to mythology had been tricked out of a position in the Zodiac. It was as if an extended system of logic had been secreted into his head.

He then thought back to the vision, the Class Change ceremony. The first-hand history of kami and youkai had been like a boot camp at warp speed, fitting several years of supernatural training into the brain within a minute of the real world. As gruesome and cruel as many of the pictures were, Naruto had the chance to witness all sorts of demon sealing, hundreds of times.

He moved another piece. The unease that had initially come with this new knowledge slowly fell away, replaced with an odd sense of satisfaction. Although related to sealing, what was before him was a game. It was just a game. Not a matter of life and death.

Naruto moved the figures of the snake, tiger, and dog together, filling more spaces in the incomplete circle. He picked up a carved tengu, and mulled over where it should go, if anywhere. He then set it aside, and took another figure.

The puzzle that the Hyuuga put before him was rather long, but doable. The logic of it melded together. What small knowledge of sealing Naruto obtained from the Yondaime's scroll — and eventually Yondaime himself — was making perfect sense now, although he could not formulate it in words.

He lifted up one of the demonic pieces, looking pensive. Many witnesses held their breaths. This made Naruto uneasy. "These figures look cool, by the way," he said, in an effort to mellow out the stiff atmosphere. "My set at home is made of wood, not crystal."

"Uzumaki-kun, it would be best if you put all your concentration on the problem set before you," said one elder, looking extremely tired.

Naruto forced a smile. "Of course." He felt like throwing the figurine across the room. Instead, he calmly slid it over to another square. "There. Done."

Murmurs came from a few of the Hyuuga. One squeezed what looked to be a stopwatch.

"Young man, do you have any idea what you just did?" Hiashi asked.

Naruto shrugged. "I... completed a sealing circle?"

Hyuuga Hiashi coolly studied the irritated look that Naruto shot to Jiraiya. Naruto had just solved, no matter how unwittingly, the sequence for undoing the special seal over Hinata's eyes. Of course, the young man would have to first find out what part the non-Zodiac signs played in the code.

Hiashi looked over the elders. If they had not gained respect for Naruto after that performance, they at least had a small fear that Naruto would later decipher extremely powerful seals on his own, maybe even Hyuuga seals. Which was perfect for the next announcement Hiashi was about to make.

"Well, in any case, it's clear you are qualified."

"I'm qualified?" Naruto asked. "For what?"

Hiashi began to scrape an ink stick in the waters of an inkwell. "What do you think of being a _muko youshi_?"

Naruto paused. Did the grim patriarch say what he thought he just said?

There was a slide, and a bang of the door. Everybody else in the room turned to see a young girl with a flushed face, and a deflated jounin behind her. Apparently, Hanabi had come late to the meeting but did not want to admit it by actually entering the room, so had instead listened from the hallway.

"I am _not_ going to marry that bleach-head there!" Hanabi shrieked. She lunged at the seated Naruto — Neji caught her from behind, and lifted her body so that her limbs did not flail anybody present. Annoyed that Neji knew her moves so well, Hanabi simply shot her father an incredulous look. "Chichi-ue, why should that dope gain the name of Hyuuga?" She groped for reasons why not. "He's... a pervert!"

"All guys are a bit perverted," Konohamaru said, revealing himself from Neji's shadow. "Hanabi-chan."

Hanabi glowered. "Don't call me that."

"How many non-Hyuuga are actually here?" one of the Hyuuga elders demanded.

"Three, it seems," Hiashi said. This was the most spirited image he had seen in his second daughter — scratch that, in the whole family — in ages.

"And even if he did marry into the family, I would _never_ sleep with him!" Hanabi cried out. "Not even for heirs!"

"There's one way of escaping that fate, Hanabi-chan," said Konohamaru, who himself knew a few things about politics in powerful families. "Get yourself knocked up."

Neji kicked him, wondering why Hanabi allowed him into the house. Oh, yes, she had claimed that idiots attract idiots, so the quickest (and therefore best) way to get Naruto of the Hyuuga compound was to have the Sarutobi boy go in, and lead Naruto out.

"Hanabi, do not jump to conclusions," Hiashi said calmly. "I am not requesting Naruto to marry you."

Hanabi's face now turned into a different shade of pink, this time one of embarrassment. "You're... not?"

The patriarch shook his head. "No."

"BAT!" someone yelled.

Naruto glanced up, and saw something flying with odd angles around the lamps above. In his opinion, it looked too thin and two-dimensional to be an organic being. Besides, it was daylight now. One of Sai's creations, perhaps?

The paper floated down upon the table, and lay flat. It began to glow. A transparent, child-sized figure rose up, as if it had sprouted from the white sheet like a seedling.

Naruto stared. "Zashiki Warashi?"

No, it was not the ghost-boy long absent. It was a tiny girl, in the small robes of a Shinto priestess. Her long hair was held back with a white tie. Her eyes opened, revealing two lavender eyes with no pupils.

'Hinata,' Naruto automatically thought, although his common sense said it could not be. Hinata was a grown young lady; this figure was a child.

Upon seeing Naruto, the image ran towards him across the table. "Naruto-kun!" The child even had Hinata's voice. She folded her hands, and smiled up at him. "I'm so glad you're safe; I was worried when the demon attacked you... Did my block help?"

"Uh..." Naruto was still empty for words at this new form of Hinata.

"Wow, it's a chibi-Hinata!" Konohamaru exclaimed. Hanabi said nothing, only a blush on her face at how cute the specter was.

"Indeed, it is an uncanny appearance of Hinata when she was three," observed one elder, intrigued at the hologram-like image. "Except her hair had been shorter."

"Is that what I look like now?" The chibi-Hinata looked apologetic. "I'm communicating to you through a shikigami — it's almost like a Kage-Bunshin, but it's more fragile." She twiddled her fingers nervously. "That one in the other realm... it came out of me as sort of an impulse. Now I'm training properly, using paper." She paused. "Did the Sesshou-seki demon hurt you badly, Naruto-kun?"

"You _touched_ the Sesshou-seki?" Hiashi asked, in a tone inquiring whether Naruto was crazy.

"I'm fine, I made a five-minute seal so that I could run," said Naruto.

"She's so cute," Hanabi murmured, adoring the small Hinata in Shinto robes.

"A moment," said Hiashi. All eyes in the room turned to him. "It is all very well and good that we witness a technique as old as a shikigami. But how can we be certain that you are actually my daughter?"

The chibi-Hinata quailed under the patriarch's look. "Um... You, Hyuuga Hiashi, are my father the head of the clan, who several months ago put a seal on my eyelids."

Hyuuga Neji stared at the figure. So that was why there was no Caged Bird seal on the small Hinata's forehead. He felt somewhat more at ease that she had escaped his fate.

"...my little sister's name is Hanabi, my first cousin's name is Neji, the oldest relative I have is..."

"Stop," Hiashi said, knowing this could go on forever. "You might be a spy investigating our clan, who captured and tortured my real daughter, and infiltrated this house under the impression we would accept you so readily with such a tame appearance."

"B-b-but," the chibi-Hinata stuttered.

Naruto came up with an idea. "I know!" The shikigami turned around, and saw the blond give her a sexy, vulpine grin. "Hina-chan, when I find you, I want to tear off your clothes with my bare hands and screw you until you can't walk."

Hanabi let off a high-pitched, scandalized gasp, as if Naruto had confessed to a hideous deed in court. Jiraiya looked like someone had declared free drinks.

The chibi-Hinata was stunned for a moment — and turned red as a beet from the chin up. The shikigami fell back with a mortified squeak. The image burst in a cloud of aura. Shreds of paper scattered over the table.

"Well, that was definitely Hinata," said Naruto. His pores exploded sweat as the Hyuuga elders stared at him.

"You idiot, you just wiped out Hinata-sama's spell!" said Neji, who was now holding back Hanabi from effectively killing Naruto.

* * *

Hinata's eyes shot open. The sacred fire crackled before her. "Oh, no!"

"You're already back?" Warashi asked. "The communication should have held in there for at least two minutes."

"Naruto-kun said something... extremely inappropriate," Hinata murmured, cupping her face. Her cheeks were extremely hot; strangely, something deep in lower torso also felt like it was warming up. She had known that Naruto was no stranger to pornography, as he was a healthy seventeen-year-old male. But for him to _say_ such a thing, in front of the clan elders, no less... Her face then turned white in horror. "Oh no, my family will murder Naruto-kun!"

"How about transferring to another shikigami that's stationed there?" Warashi suggested. "You sent out more than one, after the first one didn't work right away." He began to giggle. "Hinata-neechan, you're almost like those insecure old people sending and resending the same message through new technology."

Hinata was mournful. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be; the spares turned out useful," said Warashi. "Now, try again."

The Priestess nodded, and focused again upon the fire. The flames licked and curled over the wood, like dancers in red. Hinata's vision fell deep, first in the Byakugan, and then to its second stage: the aura of the fire danced around the burning wood, and swirled around Hinata, sucking her in.

Her vision suddenly gained the point of view from high above the shrine. The aerial path that the shikigami had taken zipped through her mind, showing mountains, hills, valleys, rivers, desert — then finally a thick forest, a familiar village, and a large mansion.

* * *

"I... didn't actually _mean_ that," said an embarrassed Naruto, trying to get back on the good side of the family. "I just knew that she was easily flustered with certain... Look, I'm sorry I went overboard!"

Another piece of paper flew in from the open window, and settled itself in the middle of the table. Hinata's child-form appeared once again, now with a slightly pinker face. "I had sent extras," the chibi-Hinata said. She did not dare look at Naruto in the face, afraid that her composure would break again.

"How many more shikigami did you bring?" Hiashi now became comfortable seeing Hinata as a transparent three-year-old. "I presume you left several in the Hyuuga compound."

"I sense at least one more in the area that survived the trip, besides the one I'm using now," the chibi-Hinata answered.

Hiashi sighed. "Very well. This concerns you, too, Hinata, so you should stay." He returned his gaze to Naruto. "Uzumaki, what would you think of marrying Hinata?"

There was a long pause. Both Naruto and the chibi-Hinata were frozen.

The latter then fell back in a dead faint, and burst into shreds of paper, just like the first shikigami had.

"Hiashi-sama, your tact is no different from Naruto's," Neji murmured under his breath, a comment completely unnoticed because of a wail erupting from Hanabi. When the little girl buried her face in the jounin's shirt, Konohamaru looked away, grumbling to himself.

Some elders were stricken and mute, while others stuttered out protests. "He, marry Hinata?" – "Hiashi-sama, this is a bit different from past arrangements..." – "Are you _sure_?"

Naruto had lost the feeling in his legs long ago due to the intense sitting position, but now it felt like he lost his sense of speech, too. 'Marriage, to Hinata? Without needing to elope?'

Until now, the blond shinobi actually had been memorizing the Hyuuga compound every time he visited, in case the need arose within the next decade to steal away Hinata. But Hiashi himself now suggested that he would not only take care of all the wedding expenses, but also the trouble of proposing.

'Wait, do I really want to impose this on her?' Naruto wondered. It was not uncommon for ninja to marry as teenagers, as the occupation held a short life expectancy. But still, it seemed rather sudden in their relationship. 'What if the Hyuuga demanded we make an heir, while it's still risky for Hinata? Sakura-chan said a woman's body isn't fully developed for a baby until into her twenties... Wait, why am I thinking about_ kids_ already?'

"Be careful, Naruto, it could be a trap," Jiraiya murmured as the elders squabbled. "Oh, I forgot. Marriage _is_ a trap."

"Silence," Hyuuga Hiashi rumbled. All present immediately quieted down. "I stated a question, Uzumaki."

Jiraiya prayed Naruto would not say the first thing on his mind.

"Well, the first thing I thought, was that I must be a lucky bastard." The blond laughed sheepishly. Nobody else in the room did. Chilled, Naruto continued, this time in a more serious and sincere tone. "It would be extremely lucky for me, if I would get married to the person I love — strong, both inside and out, a bit quirky, but a wonderful girl."

"They are totally incompatible," Hanabi said between threatening tears. Neji had no idea how to react to this new, vulnerable side to his cousin, so he just patted her back. "Please tell me you agree with me!" Hanabi demanded him. His face seemed stoic, but he was in fact avoiding to answer. "Neji-niisan!"

"I agree," Konohamaru said. "Hinata-neechan turns anemic at almost any talk related to sex. Even on their wedding night, Naruto-niichan won't be able to properly plow—"

"Konohamaru," Naruto said in a warning tone. He turned back to Hiashi, just when Hanabi began to shake Naruto's younger counterpart. "Hyuuga-ossan," Naruto said, ignoring the glares from a few elders, "I would be honored with the chance to live with and protect your daughter." He hesitated. "But... why me? I mean, I'm not part of the clan. I'm an orphan, with no status save for chuunin."

Another paper flew into the room, and settled to the table. The chibi-Hinata appeared once more. "No more shocking news, please!" she said, looking the most frustrated that her family had seen her in years. "I am still training in shikigami!" She looked around, and then saw that everybody was in rapt attention of her. "Um... Have I missed anything?"

"Nothing." Hiashi folded his hands. "Uzumaki, I will state the facts to you straight away: any fondness that you claim to hold towards my daughter is of little import in such an arrangement."

Hinata looked crestfallen, but her shikigami did not disappear. Naruto noticed this. If that statement had not shocked her enough to cut the enchantment, it meant she was used to this kind of talk from her father. Anger began to rise in Naruto.

Hiashi dipped a brush into an inkwell, and began to write notes on a blank piece of paper. "Your speed in deciphering seals and counterseals gives you high potential in becoming a secretary of the seals, a little-known but important position in this clan." He gave the young man a pointed look. "Perhaps with your assistance, we could even... _repair_ a few troubles that plague the family."

Naruto fought to keep the veil of rage from blinding his eyes. He squinted as Hyuuga Hiashi scratched his forehead. No, the scratch was a disguise: Hiashi's index finger tapped the exact middle of his forehead, two times. It pointed briefly to Neji, then back to Naruto.

The shikigami held in a gasp. She floated upon Naruto's shoulder, and whispered in his ear. "Chichi-ue wants you to held solve the cursed seal system. Of the Hyuuga clan."

Naruto's blue eyes focused back on Hiashi, and saw the patriarch's serious nod.

Naruto could hardly believe it. It was an honor, that the head of such a family held that much hope in him.

But it also posed an enormous challenge. Even if Naruto worked on it, the problems of the cursed seal system could very well outlive him. There were thousands of doctors, scientists, and scholars who invested lifetimes into their work, without ever seeing its fruition. And Hyuuga clan politics was more complicated than a simple family feud. Even if he loved Hinata with all his heart, living with such a family might prove to be his most difficult experience. Because Naruto would be a Hyuuga by marriage and not by blood, he would probably be assigned to be an "objective" mediator in the clan — or a scapegoat, if all things went to hell.

"I think this is a matter Naruto still needs to think over," said Jiraiya. When Naruto sputtered in disbelief at the abrupt end, he pulled up his student by the ear, and dragged him out. "Boy," Jiraiya said in a low voice, "there is no point planning for a wedding if you can't find the bride's _body_ first."

"Why do you make that sound sick?" Naruto complained. He waved to the chibi-Hinata before disappearing. "Bye, Hina-chan!" he shouted. "I'm going to find you, I promise!"

The shikigami waved back. She then turned, and bowed respectfully to Hyuuga Hiashi. "I take my leave now, Chichi-ue. I'm reaching my chakra limit for this spell, so..." She turned to her little sister. "Hanabi-chan, stay strong. I love you."

"Onee-sama!" Hanabi cried out, before the image of her sister disappeared in a cloud of sparkling white chakra. Nothing but a strip of paper, cut in two pieces, remained on the table.

Hiashi studied his notes. The fact that Naruto had not jubilated too soon at the marriage proposal was a good thing. It was not a sign that Naruto's love for Hinata waned. On the contrary, the concealed excitement with partial anxiety that Hiashi's eyes had witnessed, was a signal that the young man's feelings were coming closer to a more mature love. Naruto already understood what a large responsibility it was, and what possible difficulties could come along to both him and Hinata if they married. He could get stressed out or tired enough from the new duties in the Hyuuga clan, so much that proper conversation with Hinata would become rare. Such a union could even weaken his chances for becoming Hokage, if rumors spread that the Kyuubi-vessel was becoming power-hungry and was marrying only for political reasons.

Naruto and Hinata loved each other, Hiashi could see all too well. The question was whether they could survive the possible social reactions to a marriage, and still find enough strength to stay together.

One Hyuuga shrugged. "Well, things would certainly be more interesting around here if he married Hinata-sama."

No one could deny that. A few chuckles rose from the table.

"I'm against it," Hanabi said firmly, still gripping her cousin's sleeve. "This place will turn into an animal house if he moves in."

Another elder studied the close proximity between Hanabi and Neji. "Well, if that fails to work out, then perhaps you two can marry. Neji-sama has excellent leadership qualities."

Hanabi pushed herself off Neji's chest, he cheeks hot with embarrassment and rage. She was half-tempted to activate the cursed seal on the whole lot of them, but an abuse of power of that magnitude would pressure her father into bestowing her the cursed seal as well.

Hanabi glared at Konohamaru. "Why are you still here?" she snapped. "Get out of the house; your use to me is gone."

The genin smirked. "Hey, you're cute when you're angry. Too bad you're flat as a board."

Konohamaru then ran like hell, with an enraged Hyuuga female at his heels.

* * *

"Kurogami-dono, congratulations on your marriage!"

"Kurogami-dono, is your wife feeling well? I have just the herbal medicines for a comfortable honeymoon..."

"Kurogami-dono..."

Sakura appeared as though her facial muscles would seize up any moment soon, with all the gentle-looking smiles she had been forced to make at any compliment. Servants, clerks, street vendors, even lords, were trying to get on good terms with the young lord Kurogami and his new wife, as they believed the relationship was.

"Now isn't this so much better than impersonating me, Sakurako?" Sasuke drawled out the pseudonym to Sakura, almost mocking the way she struggled to walk in a thick and heavy kimono. "Just because you didn't like the arranged marriage doesn't mean you can flee your husband so easily."

"You..." Sakura was still cross at him for assigning her this unfathomable identity. At least she could instill genuine fury into the part. "You're impossible."

The Uchiha ignored her. It would probably take one more hour before she was tranquil again. Besides, it was rather fun teasing Sakura by flaunting her through the marketplace.

His eyes trailed at a perfectly white strip of paper on the road. Sasuke wondered whether it was an exploding note, until a cart came by and muddied the paper with its wheels. His ninja instincts sighed in relief, but were still on alert.

They passed several streets, going through salespeople and their stalls. One woman at a corner waved a jeweled hairpin from her stall. "Ma'am, would you like to try this on? It would look wonderful with your kimono!"

Sakura raised her head a little, and realized the woman had been addressing her. She walked over, and politely looked over the hairpins. "Thank you, but no," she said, and continued on her way. She looked over to what Sasuke was doing.

Sasuke froze mid-step. He felt a warm chakra behind him, as if a spell had been cast. He turned around.

There was nothing. Just people, carts, animals. And another white scrap of paper. Shrugging the feeling off, Sasuke quickly followed Sakura. "You could have chosen a hairpin," said Sasuke.

"A bit too expensive for that quality," Sakura replied. "I don't like hairpins anyway."

Sasuke felt his stomach rumble. The breakfast of roast squirrel and dandelion salad he made in the morning seemed to have finished its fuel. No wonder; the sun was already past its noon point. Sasuke looked at how Sakura fared: sure enough, the pink-haired girl was eying stands of fast food, ranging from greasy yakisoba to hot, sweet dango. He grabbed her hand and led her away. He glanced back for a moment, and saw the slight disappointment in her face.

As they kept walking, Sasuke stopped in his tracks. Another strip of white paper lay on the ground.

Now he was suspicious. Sasuke put his fingers in his wallet, and charged up a coin with silver chakra. While no one was looking, he threw the glowing ryou, aiming for the paper. It hit, and bounced off. The paper didn't set off with chakra, either. While this was a good thing, Sasuke decided to pick up and keep the paper, just because there was something about it that piqued him.

After he walked away, Sasuke heard shuffling: he looked back, and saw a saleswoman greedily pick up the coin he had left behind. The ninja rolled his eyes. 'It's just one ryou.' He caught up with Sakura, and continued their afternoon stroll together.

As they walked, Sasuke realized that Sakura's kimono, although elegant in its own right, did not seem to suit her very well. It was yellow with thin, wavy stripes of blue, clashing terribly with her hair. It was the palace's kimono, probably an old item of a daimyo's wife. It would have to be returned soon.

Sasuke looked around at the bazaar of shops surrounding them. His black eyes caught just the place.

"We're going into a shop?" Sakura asked. "I thought we were just supposed to walk—"

"Here." Sasuke led her through the doors, and nudged her towards the display. "Choose six that you like."

The pink-haired kunoichi stared at the curtains upon curtains of various kimono. "I think I'm about to be sick."

"You're ill?"

Sakura sighed, putting a hand to her head. "My health is fine. It's just... Don't try to act the loving husband."

The foreign voice in Sasuke asked why such an image had to be revolting for her. Instead, Sasuke asked aloud, "Woman, why are you complaining, when a man is willing to pay for your _shopping_?"

Sakura paused in thought. A lop-sided grin slowly formed on her face. "Now there's the no-nonsense guy I know." She moseyed towards the section holding the yukata, as she wanted something thinner in the coming humid summer than the heat-trapping silk she now wore. She grabbed two kimono of her body length, and two yukata likewise. "Okay, let's buy them and get out of here."

Sasuke look at the four she held. "Aren't you going to try them on?"

"These are kimono," said Sakura. "Once you know your body length, it's practically a one-size-fits-all." Sasuke shot her a frown. "Okay, _fine_," the kunoichi groaned. "I'll do the girly act. But only to re-check my height." The kunoichi went to the dressing rooms, which in her opinion were more useful to stroke the female ego rather than to improve actual fit.

"Make sure the colors look right," Sasuke called through the wooden door. He did not mean to sound like some sort of fashion designer, but neither did he want Sakura to strut around the royal court looking like a walking pizza.

Sasuke paused. He turned around, and saw a white strip of paper in the middle of the floor. 'Are these things following me?' Sasuke picked it up. What was more eerie was that the longer he studied the paper, the more it resembled a human figure. It was not simply a long rectangle. It had triangles for sleeves, and a circle for a head.

After some shuffling from Sakura's dressing room, there was a thump. Sasuke slipped the piece of paper in his sleeve. "Sakura?" The Uchiha knocked on the door. "Are you finished?"

"Um..." Sakura sounded a bit troubled. "It's okay! Just give me a moment, I'm..."

When she gasped, Sasuke instinctively kicked in the door, taking the risk of any consequences for seeing her disrobed.

Sakura, in her under-robes and hair disheveled, was stepping down on something that looked like a red eel without eyes. It flailed and lashed out, blindly attempting to find her heel to sink its teeth in.

A second later, Sasuke's kunai with silver aura penetrated the creature's head. It burst into a cloud of smoke the next second. It left a pool of black, liquid miasma. Sakura made several hand-seals, and slapped it flat on the floor.

There was a pause of silence.

Sakura slowly moved her pink-glowing hand sideways. Nothing but a clean carpet remained. A collection of ash was on her palm. With a shake of her wrist, the black powder fell off, disappearing as pink sparkles neutralized the material.

They heard the owner of the store call from the desk. "Kurogami-dono, is everything alright?"

Sasuke pulled his kunai from the floor. "I'm going to have a word with the owner." Before he could stride out of the cubicle, Sakura slammed him against the thin wall, and hushed him with her hand.

"Everything's fine!" Sakura called back. "My _husband _just surprised me!" She shut the door, which still seemed to be in working order, and glared at the Uchiha.

He glared back. "Had that come out of paper?"

Sakura was confused. "Paper? No, it came from the clothing!" She shushed him, before examining the other articles. Sure enough, there were small youkai eggs planted in the folds of the labels. She made each egg hiss out of existence with a distinct pink chakra from her fingers.

Sighing, the medic-nin put on the red kimono she had been interrupted in trying on. She wrapped a veil-like obi of white around her waist. She did not bother to tie it, instead holding its ends tightly while she twisted her body in front of the mirror. The solid red of the new kimono shone through the sheer white obi, producing various shades of pink.

As intrigued as he was with Sakura's appearance, Sasuke was annoyed with how casually she accepted that every item she selected could have possessed her. "The whole store must be infected."

"Likely." Sakura unwound the store's obi, set it aside, and likewise shed the kimono. "But it's simply stupid to ask the owner about it. That would just give us away to whoever planted them in the first place." She tightened her under-robes before tugging the borrowed kimono back on. "Could you help me with the obi?"

Sasuke had to snake his arms around Sakura's waist more than once to tighten it. His jaw hovered over her shoulder for the vast majority of the period, giving Sasuke a chance to converse with her in hushed tones. "We should clean the merchandise," he stated firmly. "No, the entire store."

Sakura could not help but bitterly laugh. "How would that look, if on the day of our arrival, a whole store suddenly loses its ability to possess its customers with supernatural beings? I agree with you that we should do something, but we can't do it that way."

"Then how?"

"How else?" Sakura used the mirror to do the finishing touches of the obi, as Sasuke was unfamiliar in how to do the final folds. "We look for the source."

"While the whole city becomes undead?"

"They'll not be undead; they'll be possessed," Sakura corrected him. "There is an important difference."

Sasuke never thought he would see the day when he expressed more concern for the quality of human life than Sakura. But she had a point that they could not purify a whole store just yet, especially one as important as a kimono shop. The samurai-class in this town wore nothing but kimono.

The Uchiha placed ten gold coins on the counter. The owner bowed and gave his thanks as the two left the store, each carrying a bag of merchandise.

"Don't be so worried," Sakura said. "I exterminated a few while you were paying."

"I'll... take care of the rest," Sasuke muttered. "Later."

Sakura glanced at him again. "Um, sure. Thank you." The two walked silently through the loud, bustling streets. "Are we skipping lunch?" Sakura suddenly asked, her bag of kimono heavy upon her arm.

"No." Sasuke looked at her suspiciously. "You're not doing anything idiotic such as dieting, are you?"

"No! I love my figure, wobbly bits and all!" Sakura blushed at the astonished look he gave her. "I mean, I kind of assumed we spent too much money on the kimono."

Sasuke scoffed. "Hardly."

"Okay..." Sakura glanced at a vendor selling teriyaki chicken. "Then—"

"You're getting better than that." Sasuke steered her into a building near the city's walls.

Sakura was almost bedazzled at what met her: a wide dining area, with the scent of fresh bamboo leaves everywhere. There were lights near the kitchen area, but natural light also came in through a large window. Sasuke lead her to a table, which gave her a view of the garden out back.

"Isn't this a bit extravagant for lunch?" Sakura asked.

"Not for lords. Besides, it's mid-afternoon." Sasuke looked up, seeing a waiter already eager to take their order. "Two times the special. Also tea." The man bowed, and disappeared to the kitchens.

Sakura lowered her voice. "Um... How much money do you actually have available?" Before, she had been depending on using a counterfeit of Kurogami's seal, to get the bare minimum to survive at court. But ever since Sasuke had taken it from her, she had never seen him use it. And not only had he offered to buy her _six_ kimono, but he was taking her out to a restaurant right afterwards.

"I made a separate account here in this country a year ago, during a mission." The Uchiha looked sourly at the financial statement of Kurogami, and showed it to her. "This is nowhere near enough to feed you adequately."

Sakura tilted her head. "You might actually spoil me."

The Uchiha lightly nudged her foot under the table.

Sakura kicked back, giggling. "Stop playing footsie!"

"Ow," Sasuke grunted.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Sakura looked genuinely worried. "I often forget my normal strength can still hurt." She then disappeared under the table.

Sasuke felt her fingers around his ankles. Suddenly he remembered an X-rated scene from Icha Icha Paradise (a copy that had mysteriously shown up in his backpack, which he read immediately after scanning it for traps). Sasuke then saw the cook from behind the counter, a look of disapproval on his face. "Wait, Sakura...ko, this looks like—"

"I'm trying to help you feel better!" Sakura said hotly, examining Sasuke's shins. "Ugh, it's hard to see under a tablecloth..."

"Sakurako, _I'm fine_." Sasuke involuntarily let off a groan, which he realized could have been interpreted in any number of ways. Secretly, he liked how her fingers were touching his legs, as innocent as it was. "You're acting unsightly for a lord's wife."

"Sheesh." Sakura's head popped back up, her hair slightly disheveled. "I offer to take care of you, and that's how you respond?"

"Why didn't he let her _continue_?" the waiter hissed behind the counter, who was promptly hit by the cook.

Sakura turned to the garden, sighing. "People are already making assumptions about us."

"They'll presume anything." Sasuke rested a tissue on his forehead. "We're on a 'honeymoon,' remember."

Sakura let her head roll on her neck. She was so tired that she felt no need to press on with the topic. The waiter brought them the tea, and left. "Do you think Naruto is out by now?"

Sasuke sipped his tea. "Who knows?"

"You completely suck at comforting," said Sakura.

"I'm your husband, not your shrink."

"Neither should I expect it." Sakura forcefully blinked several times, keeping her eyes on the garden. Several vines of morning glories were climbing up thin poles, their blossoms closed up. She already missed Minoru. His company was so much better than this cold-hearted jerk.

Sasuke felt awkward as the silence ticked by. Sakura seemed to be content with studying the garden outside, but there was a heavy sadness in her eyes. He had no idea what to say to make her feel better.

Ten minutes later, a platter of sashimi was placed in front of Sakura. "Here you are, ma'am!"

Sasuke had the urge to laugh at the medic's expression. She looked torn between drooling over the food and scolding him for being excessive. He mixed wasabi into his soy sauce, before dipping in a slice of raw tuna. "Eat," he told her.

Sakura could not help but stare at the food. Having lived off wild flora and fauna for half a year, only now and then eating vendor food in villages, sashimi was a delicacy — ocean fish, so fresh that it could be safely served raw.

She dipped a piece of salmon in the soy sauce, and stuck it in her mouth. The fat of the raw flesh melted on her tongue. 'Wonderful omega fatty acids!' a voice screamed in her. Sakura chewed, half-happy and half-ashamed. 'I'm so weak-willed...'

Sasuke watched her curious expression. "Is it bad?" Perhaps he should have ordered sushi for her instead; the sweetened rice that came with it probably was better suited to Sakura's palette.

Sakura lifted her hand to halt him. "No, don't call the waiter. It's good." Her face lit up in a slight smile. "Thank you for taking me here."

A long silence followed, in which they wordlessly continued to eat.

When she began to feel full, Sakura spoke up again. "What were you picking up on the way?" She saw his dark eyes met hers. "While we were walking, you now and then stopped," Sakura continued. "I first thought it was your sandals."

Sasuke slipped a hand in his sleeve, and pulled out something white, making crinkling sounds. He laid the strips of pure, white paper next to his plate. "I don't know what they are. They keep appearing behind me."

"Dolls," Sakura identified. "A very old sort, though."

"Voodoo?"

"No, those are made of straw." Sakura turned over the strip of paper. "They look like the precursors of the o-hina-sama on Girl's Day."

Sasuke had to think for a moment. Oh, of course, Girl's Day, or also known simply as Doll's Day. The third day of the third month, Hinamatsuri, was characterized by young girls setting up stands of dolls — hina, as they were called — which were dressed as imperial courtesans. "These scraps of paper look nothing like those dolls," Sasuke said, remembering the rich and elaborate displays that his aunts and female cousins would set up every year. "Besides, it's now the fifth month."

The kunoichi picked up another piece of sashimi. "I'm talking about the precursor. It is believed that the origins of Girl's Day, was that women would make paper cutouts, nest them in a wreath, and throw them out in a body of water, to carry away evil spirits." She raised the strip of paper. "I wouldn't be surprised if this had something... special in it, so to speak."

Sakura laid the paper onto the table, smoothing it. She cleared her mind. Her index finger touched the doll's head, and trailed downwards, running over the paper's texture.

When Sakura opened her eyes, Sasuke was already transfixed with her tranquil expression. "It has a slight imprint of magic," the Mystic said calmly. "It reminds me of..." She paused, trying to remember who had that sort of gentle aura.

A ghostly figure suddenly began to rise from the table. Sakura's eyes widened at the face — back, back in her childhood, she saw a queue of tall, imposing adults, all with dark, long hair and pale eyes. A small girl poked her head out from the kimono of one of the men, probably her father. She shyly looked at Sakura.

Sakura opened her mouth. "Wait, it's—"

It was a split-second, an unseen movement. Sasuke clicked his kunai back in a hidden holster.

Sakura's jaw slightly dropped when the paper's two remaining pieces floated to the table. "You killed Hinata!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What?"

* * *

"Here you are, Sir."

A mug was set in front of Gaara. A strong, thick aroma reached his nostrils.

Only weeks ago, the Kazekage had begun his solo journey to find a way to dispose of the cursed mirror. Along the way he had discovered the liquid known as coffee. Although he did not need caffeine to stay awake, Gaara realized that he felt better after drinking coffee. Before he knew it, he had become addicted.

Thus, there was the Kazekage in a bar, drinking a triple expresso at two in the morning.

'This can't be healthy,' Gaara thought. The bitter drink sloshed down his throat.

It was supposed to be normal, even _beneficial_, for someone to have an eight-hour state of what was essentially unconsciousness. He still did not understand what was so great about sleep.

At the same time, he felt left out. He had once heard his sister fretting that if she didn't get her 'beauty sleep', she'd get 'crow's feet.' Gaara had no idea what crow's feet were, but he guessed it was something fatal if his kunoichi sister considered it bad. He wished she would not say such things; what did that make a lifelong insomniac like him feel?

The lights of the bar dimmed, giving a blue and purple color to his surroundings. Gaara scoffed. There were still dancers with performances. He had exchanged a few words with strangers some hours ago, following Naruto's advice in trying to be more social, but most of those people were now gone. Only the tables closest to the stage were dabbed with single, lonely men who nursed drinks.

The curtain opened, with the silhouette of a lithe, short figure in a blue background. Gaara noticed that the stage was covered with a thin pool of water. The dancer began to move, first with her upraised wrists. Arms. Neck. Torso.

As the stage lights grew stronger and the slow music paced, Gaara studied the girl. He wondered whether she was of legal age to perform, especially at a place like this. She was decked in gold jewelry and a gold sequin top, complimenting the solar brown of her skin. She wore a red, almost wrap-around skirt, which hugged her feminine hips and flew loosely around her legs as she danced. With the artful way the drops of water sprayed around her without touching her skimpy clothes, she looked as though she were a water spirit.

For a while, Gaara lost himself in her movements. Her wavy, shoulder-length hair was of a violet hue, but somehow it seemed natural to her, the way it swayed across the bare skin of her back.

He thought nothing serious of it. His eyes were glued to the dancer, only because there was nothing better to do.

Her head tilted backward.

Gaara nearly jerked in his seat when their eyes met. The dancer only gave a flirty smile, and continued her routine, as if she had not noticed him at all.

He lifted up his coffee with a shaking hand. It was difficult to tell with the blue and purple lights, but she had yellow cat eyes. Gaara doubted they were contact lenses. The manner in which a droplet of water rolled down her bare back, jumped to her leg, and then glistened on her shoulder was no simple exploit. She was not of this world.

Gaara examined her from afar, trying to find a reason to shake off his unease. The more he tried to ignore the girl, the more water-like aura sprinkled upon him, like thin mist. He was forced to glance again at the stage with every touch, as if the girl were mocking his unease.

The strange thing was, the more dangerous the small girl appeared, the more Gaara wanted to know about her. Before he knew it, the music was already coming to an end. The girl bowed in an odd way, lifting up the sides of her loose skirt. Her bare feet, dripping with water, was the last part of her Gaara saw before the curtain fully closed.

(( "Gaara, you have to open up to people more!" said Naruto.

The Kazekage blinked at him. "How?"

"Just... talk to people! Don't be afraid of making new acquaintances!" ))

Gaara turned to the bartender. "Who was that girl?"

"Oh, just a passing dancer," the man said, cleaning some glasses. "Actually got quite a name for herself across these provinces, Hiromi-chan. She's in this town for the weekend; brings in a lot of customers."

"Do you think... I mean..." The Kazekage could barely believe he had been reduced to a nervous teenager. "Does she accept guests?"

The bartender gave a half-smile, as if he had seen this before. "Just a moment." He walked through a door at the back of the bar.

Gaara felt a knot in his chest as he waited. It was as if his heart pounded in his ears.

Finally, the bartender came through the doors. "When I told her a fan wanted to see her, her exact words were, 'Bring him in, I like redheads.' " He grinned at the Kazekage. "Go past the bathrooms down that hall, and take a right at the end. Her door is the one with a red phoenix on it."

"Thank you."

Leaving several bills on the counter for the coffee, Gaara made his way down the hall. He turned the said corner, and looked around. Old sliding doors greeted him, moth-bites teasing the corners of each. If he hadn't been told to look for a phoenix, he would not have identified the red, scratched-off lines on one door as anything like a mythical bird.

Gaara stood in front of the old painted door, wondering if this was a good idea. He never knew of this girl's existence a quarter of an hour ago, and now something was burning in him. His past told him that such excitement was a dangerous thing. But he was simply curious...

The door opened on its own. "Yoohoo!" the purple-haired dancer greeted. "You wanted to see me?"

Her chirpy voice made Gaara feel awkward in a different manner, although it was also strangely relaxing. He had not seen such a carefree and sunny expression, at least since the last time he saw Naruto. "Hello."

The girl with violet hair bent over and peered upward, so she could see the face of the young man who had tilted his head down. "You're kinda cute," she said with a giggle. "So shy."

This was already too much for Gaara. He turned around, ready to leave. "Your performance was nice. Good-bye."

"Now, now, now." Potamos slid her small body in between him and the edge of the hallway. "Would you like to stay for a drink?" She put her hands on his chest to stop his movement. Her yellow eyes widened at what she felt under his thick shirt: despite his skinniness, she felt pectorals underneath. 'Wow, not only physical, but modest and shy too?'

"I don't drink alcohol," Gaara said.

Potamos smiled. "Silly me. You're more of a caffeine-at-night person, right?"

"How did you—"

"I saw you order a triple expresso," Potamos said. "I stretch and stuff before performing, so I noticed all sorts of things about customers through the curtains!" She paused in thought. "Even though that was my third performance tonight, so I technically didn't have to stretch and stuff at that time..."

"I have to go." Gaara now forgot why this girl seemed so mysterious in the first place, besides her yellow eyes. He must have imagined the cat eyes, and the drops of water following her curves. This was insane, to come to her room.

"Wait." Potamos kept a hand on his clothed arm. "I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd hate the ditzy act." She put her other hand on his shoulder, like a friend. "Do you want to talk instead? My room is open."

Gaara was about to refuse, until he saw her slight pout. He sighed, then nodded. A talk was exactly what he wished for, in fact.

The purple-haired girl let off an excited squeal, and pulled him into her sleeping chamber. As she closed it, the Kazekage examined the place. It was very small, and the walls were nothing more than aging yellow paper, with black ink paintings displaying bamboo trees.

"It's teeny, but enough for two people to sit cozy." Potamos took out an extra cup from the drawer of her nightstand, and poured hot water into a teapot. She turned to her guest. "So, where do you come from? Name?"

"My name is Gaara. That's all you need to know."

"Gaara? Weird." Potamos pointed at his forehead. "What made you get a tattoo with such a horrible symbol?"

This was the first time Gaara met anybody who thought the word _love_ was horrible. "To pay for my sins," he almost snarled out. "I carved it myself."

"You did?" Awe came over Potamos' face. "That's amazing! I heard it's really painful to get a tattoo!"

"I'm surprised you don't have one on your ass," Gaara muttered as she went to pour the tea.

"How are you so sure?" Potamos giggled at the expression he made. "I was kidding. Although, you could see for yourself, if you're a good boy." She lifted up her hand mirror from the dresser, checking whether any stage make-up still had not been cleansed off. Several jewels on its handle sparkled. She set the item down, and poured the tea.

"What was that last maneuver you did?" Gaara asked. "It looked like an odd sort of bow."

"It's called a curtsy." Potamos turned around, lifting up her sarong, and did the move with an elegance sweeter than her nature. "It works best with ankle-length skirts, actually."

"A foreigner, huh." Gaara watched as she drew close, and handed him a cup. Just as his mouth was on its brim, his hostess scooted up, and rested her head on his shoulder. He swallowed his first sip. "What are you doing?"

"You wanted to talk, right?" Potamos drank from her tea, at the same time 'casually' nudging her hip against his. "You're curious, not just about me, but about yourself." She watched him finish his teacup, calmly but with relish — no wonder to her, for concentrated coffee easily dehydrated a human.

Gaara set the empty cup down. As weird as the girl was, he strangely felt at ease in her company. He looked up, and saw yellow cat eyes glittering.

"You're a demon." The girl smirked at him. "Aren't you?"

Gaara was silent. He did not fear her, for if she was powerful at all, he was probably stronger than her, or at least her equal.

"No. You're not a demon." Potamos licked her lower lip, studying him. "But you're holding one, an amazing feat for a human." She neared her face to his. "How do you feel?"

Gaara's expression remained blank. "I'm tired." Not only physically tired, but mentally and emotionally. He was so tired of this journey, being alone with a stupid, cursed mirror, having little idea what to do except look for temples and shrines. He had been met with either hostility or fear at each stop.

"You definitely look worn out." Potamos stroked his cheek. Something in her urged to take care of him, a lowly human though he was.

"Is Hiromi your real name?" Gaara asked.

Potamos' face turned sultry. "If I told you that, I'm afraid I'd have to kill you." She held the expression — and then burst out laughing. "Did I do that cliché right?"

"Yes, I'm afraid you did," said the Kazekage, thinking of bad movies that portrayed ninja and secret agents so inaccurately it hurt.

"Actually, Hiromi is my preferred stage name," Potamos said. "But Hiromi's got a secret. A piece of truth, just for you." She leaned her red lips next to his ear, and gave a sharp whisper. "I'm a _devil_." She wrapped her bronzed arms around Gaara, and kissed him. Her lips were cold, he noticed. "Do you still want to kill me?" Potamos asked, seating herself comfortably into his lap.

Gaara did not say anything. Instead, he kissed her back. His hand reached for his kunai holster — and halted. He brought it up to cup the face of the dancer who claimed she was a demon. He believed her, too. Her aura tasted of cold, cold rivers from mountains, refreshing at first sight but freezing to the touch.

Gaara let off a moan as she gently lapped his neck. Her tongue felt more comfortable as she continued her affections.

A small squeak came from Potamos. It threw Gaara out of his trance. He looked down: sandy shells littered all around him. He touched his face, and realized that his sand armor was crumbling off. A single moment of losing his thoughts had stopped the regular flow of chakra to his last line of defense.

"You're paler than you look," the water-demon murmured. Potamos waved a finger, and a sphere of water appeared from nowhere. It moved over Gaara's body, collecting the sand. "You're gorgeous."

The Kazekage hissed as the cool globe rolled over him. His clothing did not even become wet; he just felt the sand between his skin and clothes, being grabbed and carried off by self-moving liquid. His ninja training told him that he should run, or attack, anything to get away from this creature. "W-Wait," he said between breaths. "I've never..."

Potamos let her lips separate from his. She gently tugged him towards the futon bed. He followed, trembling, and she began to kiss him again. "Your first?" The water-demon purred. "It's okay. I'll teach you." She led his hands around her bare waist. "Now, first the sarong."

Gaara gasped as she nibbled an earlobe. "The what?"

Over his shoulder, the water-demon stole a glance at the backpack near at the door. Potamos smiled when she caught the glimpse of a mirror in its folds. 'Score.'

* * *

Notes:

"muko youshi" - literally, it's 'adopting a son', but what it really means is a marriage where a groom takes the family name of his bride. This happens in Japan when a family has only daughters, but wishes to continue their name because of special circumstances, for example if they have a family business like a restaurant or clinic. Although it is not given a similar name in other cultures, it also happens outside of Japan where a groom joins the bride's family, especially if the bride is of a very high status. My father knew a German count who had two daughters — when each of them got married, both of their husbands were only happy to dispose of their old names to gain new titles.

"shikigami" - originally spirits believed to assist Daoist magicians in carrying out supernatural tasks, Japanese folklore incorporated the pun of "kami", which can also mean 'paper', to describe such beings to work in the human realm as pieces of paper. Examples of shikigami in anime include the bird-like papers that attacked Haku in "Spirited Away," the small flying children Kikyou used to protect villagers in _Inuyasha_, and Sakurazaki's doubles in _Mahou-sensei Negima._

"yakisoba" - pan-fried noodles.

x

Fluff, ick. All that writing, and _nothing_ happened. Well, actually, something did happen, but it was mostly social interaction and thoughts, rather than the physical violence that the action-lovers crave. Don't worry, some angst and supernatural explosions will have to come out in the next chapter.

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


	49. The Illiterate and the Inarticulate

"Beyond Hearts and Minds"

I do not own Naruto. I do not own Potamos. I do not own any great quantity of money or property.

x

This is a break from my hiatus that was induced by graduate school, internships, and job searches. Yes, that's right. I have a life outside of fanfiction. Does anybody still remember this story?

x

"Quotations"

'Thoughts'

(( Flashback ))

x

Chapter 49: The Illiterate and the Inarticulate

* * *

Potamos warily glanced at the quiet, breathing form on the futon. Gaara looked peaceful, or at least as peaceful as a person could look with a thick layer of black eyeliner.

The purple-haired girl poked his cheek. There was no reaction. She let off a quiet sigh. She crept to the dresser, and took a soft hold to the jeweled mirror resting upon it. Potamos turned again, and padding on her knees, she approached the corner of the room where Gaara's backpack lay.

Potamos felt a pulse. It was energy from the jeweled mirror in her hand. Satisfied, the demoness stuck it in a knot of her sarong, and moved closer to Gaara's backpack. Her fingers slipped in and grabbed a slim handle.

Potamos drew out the second mirror. She flipped it in her palm. Two rings of gold and silver lapped around the octagonal glass. Despite being an old artifact, the girl saw that it was abstract, simple, and beautifully clean.

The water-demon looked in its dark reflection. Her pupils turned into thin lines. A slow grin spread on her face, exposing canine teeth. 'Jackpot.'

A shadow drenched the room. Potamos shifted her head, wondering if a cloud had blocked the moonlight. An avalanche of sand blocked her scream. The mass poured, crushing her body against the wall, until the full pressure caused the wall to burst. Potamos saw a glimpse of the night sky before the sand fully entombed her. It was the first sensation she ever had of drowning.

A shirtless Gaara drew up. He perched on the corner of the floor — or what had been the floor — studying the wreck he had created.

A grunt escaped the Kazekage. Of course the dancer had been after the cursed mirror. Why else would any pretty girl hook up with a freak like him?

An enormous clump exploded, followed with a shower of mingled sand and water. Potamos stood on the wet earth, sending up a very annoyed look at the redhead. She flung off some wet sand from the octagonal mirror. "That," she huffed, "wasn't very nice of you!"

The Kazekage lifted his arm, beckoning drier sand from the street. "Return the mirror."

She smirked back. "What if I don't wanna?"

A wave of sand rose around Gaara, and struck at her.

Small and agile, Potamos sidestepped away from the contorting arms of sand. Whatever came too close to her, she blasted away with a jet of water. Her foot found solid concrete. A shadow bathed her form. Potamos looked up, only to see a mass of wet sand dripping above. With the flick of a wrist, she willed her water to separate from Gaara's sand. A shower streamed in the air towards her. Potamos erased her presence into the leaping wave. The remaining dry sand poured to the ground.

A chill nipped at Gaara's back. He spun within the dust cloud, and briefly saw a spear with glinting cat eyes. There was a crystalline crack.

The demoness took a quick glance over him. The Kazekage glared back at Potamos, who now held an icicle with a broken tip at his chest. New stone armor covered Gaara's torso, powdered with ice crystals from her frozen spear. She disappeared in a frothy wave.

Potamos found a bamboo fence to balance on. She judged it to be was a good distance away from Gaara.

The dust settled. The purple-haired demon turned around, and her jaw dropped at what she saw.

_Her_ jeweled mirror now rested comfortably in Gaara's hand.

"When—?" Potamos was stunned, then annoyed. "You — _hey!_"

The Kazekage squeezed his grip on the jeweled mirror. Its aura told him that it was yet another fragment of the Yata no Kagami, the sacred mirror. "You steal mine. I steal yours."

A noise pattered from the inn.

The two shared a brief moment of panic in being discovered, before cloaking themselves in their respective elements. Potamos splashed away, not leaving even a drip of water on the ground. And Gaara's sand was just sand.

By the time the two reappeared on the other side of the fence, the bartender was already shouting at the destruction. "What the _hell_ is this? This will take forever to—"

The innkeeper turned quiet. There were scraping noises, and the clasping shut of a door. Gaara cast a questioning glance at Potamos.

"I left some gold coins on top of my dresser," Potamos said. "That should help him renovate those moldy rooms." She gave a cute smile. "Although the mold originally came because I had brought extra moisture to the house."

"Oh," said Gaara. He then shot another mountain of sand towards her.

Potamos jumped backward. She was pleased; she was getting used to the attack. Then mid-flight she noticed the attack was not a shower of sand, but a cloud of needles. 'He can solidify sand into weapons?' She willed a column of water out of the ground, enveloping her body.

Gaara cursed. 'A water-shield.'

Inside the water column, mud flecked onto Potamos. She was stunned. Gaara's sandstone had actually penetrated her barrier! Despite using the element of Earth, which was believed to be high on defense but low on speed, Gaara's agility as a ninja made him anything but a boring opponent. In fact, something was telling Potamos that she ought to run.

Potamos let fall the slab of water. 'He's not a bit the innocent boy of several hours ago.' She paused in thought. 'Even though I was the one who took his innocence.'

Gaara raised his arm, renewing his grip on the mountain of sand. His eyes glared murder. "Sabakuky—"

"Could we deal?" Potamos blurted out.

Gaara stared at her.

Potamos smiled back, and twiddled her fingers together. She hoped the gesture made her look cuter. It sure worked for Hinata.

The Kazekage's fingers twitched at her stalling. "Speak."

"Why don't we keep it like this?" Potamos suggested.

He raised a smooth eyebrow in response.

Potamos waved his octagonal mirror. "You had this wrapped in wards," Potamos said. "So it's obvious that you never wanted to look at it, or touch it." She pointed to her jewel-encrusted mirror in Gaara's hands. "And _that _gives me the heebie jeebies. So... how about you have it?"

Gaara blinked again, the only indication of his shock. "A trade, you suggest."

She nodded. "Tit for tat!" Potamos burbled. "Just like an hour ago!"

Gaara was highly suspicious of the girl's intentions. "Why are you bargaining a piece of the Sacred Mirror for another?"

"Haven't you _looked_ at it?" Potamos whined. He glared back. "Okay, okay! Just take a _teensy_ glance in the jeweled mirror. I won't attack you, I promise!"

The Kazekage was silent. He did not trust her, but her trade offer seemed to hold some reason. "Don't move," Gaara snapped. His hands folded together, allowing him to keep the jeweled mirror dangled on his thumb. After a set of seals, plates of sand rose from the ground, encasing him. With the protective dome complete, Gaara jammed two fingers in his eye socket. Part of his vision locked onto Potamos.

Outside the stone structure, the purple-haired demoness looked curiously at the floating eyeball.

Gaara turned his other eye to the jeweled mirror. Its surface was cloudy. As Gaara stared at it, it slowly began to clear up. Gaara saw himself in its surface. But it was no reflection. It was his profile, looking over the Hidden Village of Sand. The villagers were cheering in his direction, sending up smiles and expressions of adoration.

It was heartwarming. And creepy.

Gaara yanked the fingers from his eye socket. His stone shelter fell, and he almost snarled at Potamos. "What the _hell_ is this?"

Potamos snorted. "That fragment of the Sacred Mirror reveals the people who look up to you, or are happy in your protection." She brushed a hand over her yellow eyes. "The people who see me like that... Well..." She fluffed up her hair, and gave a cheery smile at the fragment she held. "Anywho, this mirror-part that you brought is splendiferous! It makes me look like a demon of the Seventh Hell!" She gave a squeal which made Gaara cringe.

"How can I trust you to not abuse it?" Gaara asked.

Potamos blinked. "Huh?"

The young Kazekage caught her confused expression. It took Gaara a moment to realize that Potamos only knew the mirror fragment as a toy, not a chakra source. In fact, throughout his travels, he himself had found no way to use his own mirror fragment as a source of chakra.

Gaara thought it over. He was slightly curious of what the final form of the Yata no Kagami would look like, were all the mirror's pieces to be gathered. But that would only bring a greater responsibility to possess and guard it. No, it was safest to keep the fragments as far away from each other as possible.

"Fine."

Potamos looked shocked for a moment. "Really?" Her yellow eyes began to glisten with what Gaara was sure were alligator tears. "Really really?"

"Get out of my sight," Gaara snapped.

The water-demon nodded vigorously. Potamos stuck the octagonal mirror into her golden metallic top, and ran on the edge of the bamboo fence. Her red sarong flared behind her.

Gaara rubbed his forehead.

He needed another cup of coffee.

* * *

Naruto's jaw was slack. Before him was a desk piled with at least twenty fat scrolls.

"Make sure you read _all_ of them." Neji flung open a window, allowing sunshine and air to stream in the room. "They're essential to understanding our clan customs."

"I should be studying ninjutsu, not this." Naruto was irritable. "More importantly, we should be looking for _Hinata_."

"Hinata-sama is doing fine. She notified us through her shikigami, remember?" Neji picked one of a few books that were scattered around a lamp's base. He opened one, suspicious of why it had not been stacked neatly in the bookshelves. Among the pages, he saw the name Naruto. Not just once, but several times. It was the main character of the book. "Ominous," said Neji before slamming it shut.

"What?"

"Never mind." Neji dropped a feather duster front of Naruto, apparently expecting him to clean the library as well as read it. "It's tedious, but all of it must be learned. You are a candidate to be the clan's secretary of the seals, as well as the future spouse of its heir." He glared at Naruto's grumpy look. "Your family name is going to _change_ to Hyuuga. Get that into your head."

The blond shinobi coughed when another scroll released a dust cloud. Neji slid the door shut, leaving Naruto alone with a dim lamp and a stack of scrolls. Naruto sighed. 'I might as well start reading now.' He pulled open a scroll.

'Squiggly lines.' Naruto made a face. He hated the cursive writing of old. The long-dead nobles had pursued the art of calligraphy, in the hopes that every word they wrong was artistic and spontaneous. To Naruto, their handwriting looked like frog entrails.

Naruto stood up. He decided that he needed to calm down. He could figure it out, really.

He put a hand to the wall's surface, intending to stretch some shoulder muscles.

A burning sensation spread on his palm. Naruto yelped, and drew back his hand. He stared at the white wall.

The blond squinted, and saw two shades of white. The slightly darker one was drawn in, forming a sort of mandala similar to the Buddhist priests in the water country.

Naruto rolled a small sphere of chakra between his fingers. It spun into a small Rasengan. He then flicked it to the wall. Upon contact, the Rasengan dissolved into strands of blue chakra. A blue pattern flashed across the surface, before turning a plain white again.

A chakra-draining seal.

Naruto closed his eyes. 'Just perfect,' he thought, 'they sealed me in a room to kill me.'

* * *

Sasuke's eyes snapped open. The room was bathed in a bluish light, a signal of early dawn. He felt strangely more alert. Curled up next to him was Sakura.

Sakura stirred awake next to him. She looked rather adorable with her face groggy. "Did you have to sneak into my futon?"

He shrugged. "I thought you'd be comfortable by now."

Sakura rolled away from him. "Comfort is always a sacrifice in duty."

The Uchiha frowned. "Sakurako," he said, as if her pseudonym was an admonition. "What is it about me that you so despise?"

Before Sakura could give a reply, Sasuke left the room.

The proud Uchiha strode down the hallway, angry. He could not go back to sleep, even if he had wanted to. Besides, _she_ had been the one who had rolled into _his _bed while asleep!

He headed to the exercise grounds.

Once outside, his fist cracked a supporting pole. A few splinters penetrated his knuckles. The sensation of pain snapped him out of his rage. He did not understand why Sakura's words had annoyed him. Sure, they had agreed to play the parts of a lord and his resentful wife. But he also knew that Sakura was using it more often than needed to distance herself.

Then he realized something. For the whole of yesterday, Sasuke had never thought of his parents. Not even once. He had used some of his time to investigate Lord Suisei, but it had all been done for the sake of Sakura's safety.

Going back further, it somehow amazed him that he had traveled with Naruto and Sai in the search for two girls. Why had he been doing such a thing, anyway? What about his dangerous and unstable brother in the Akatsuki?

Sasuke then remembered Sakura's hypnosis in the cavern. Although she had performed it only at his request for sleep, it still was proof that she posed a danger to his own goals. Her abilities would drive lesser men to their deaths.

Sasuke grabbed a sword from the rack, and approached a stuffed dummy. He forced himself to imagine it as his brother.

He swung. The head of straw spilled. Sasuke looked at the mess. He highly doubted Itachi would stand so motionless to have his head hacked off. Therefore, this exercise was in vain. A depressive gloom overcame Sasuke.

Sasuke returned the sword to the rack. Cutting something at least gave him some release. He could not to produce any chakra-instilled moves in the court, at least not in the open. Several other lords were already practicing their various movements and attacks in the exercise grounds.

The Uchiha heard footsteps, and turned around. It was Suisei. Sasuke gave a short bow. "Suisei-dono," Sasuke said.

"Do not hold a sword with such anger." The graying man took a bokken from the rack, and motioned Sasuke to copy. "I see that you were taught free style?"

Sasuke attempted a smile. A smile was a sign of embarrassment among the upper class. 'Smile,' Sasuke ordered himself.

Suisei raised an eyebrow. "Do you need to excuse yourself, Kokugami?"

Sasuke dropped his forced expression. "No, Suisei-dono." Sasuke put his focus on the sword racks. "Forgive me, but in real swordsmanship —"

"You don't have much experience in the art, have you?" said Suisei.

"I've only been through a few encounters." Sasuke walked loosely on the story of the real Lord Kokugami, who was now hiding in fear of Lord Suisei. The real Kokugami had been born as a lowly servant. But when his lord could not beget children, neither through a wife nor hired concubines, Kokugami became heir to his estate.

Lord Suisei combed his salt-and-pepper beard with his fingers. Sasuke noticed that his fingernails were cut to a point. "Others speak much of you, Kurogami," said Suisei. "You were denied admission to kendō lessons, because of your status as a servant." The lord's eyes crinkled with calculated mirth. "But you had the last laugh. You even took the niece of the kendō school as your wife."

"She is less than amused by the arrangement," said Sasuke. That was the only piece in the puzzle that Sasuke had actually made up. Yes, there had been a kendō school which had rejected Kokugami while he was a servant, but its owner never had a niece.

"Hm." The old man Suisei positioned his feet. "Try to hit me with what you learned in the streets."

Sasuke renewed his grip on the bokken. If the old man asked for it, he would give it.

Sasuke flung the wooden sword. He modified the rough yet effective moves he had picked up from the slums of Otogakure. His performance was intentionally loose. Sasuke did not want to rough up an elderly man who reminded him of a great-uncle.

There was a crack. A bokken clattered to the ground.

It took a moment for Sasuke to realize that the fallen bokken was his.

Proud laughter came from Suisei. "Kokugami-kun, if you let me win on purpose because I'm an old geezer," — his wooden sword lightly poked Sasuke's chin — "your head is still lopped off."

Sasuke fought a scowl. He had let his defense down against an aging feudal lord. He firmed his grip after picking up the bokken. He swung again, this time with more speed and force. The gray-haired lord moved his bokken to parry each strike. "WEAK!" Suisei raged, pushing the raven-haired youth back. "You are weak! Foolish!"

Blood rushed up Sasuke's at the echo of his brother's words. His reaction time stepped up to pace, and Sasuke felt a new high with the exercise. The old man was more than Sasuke had expected.

"You don't have what it takes!" Suisei threw aside his bokken, and took a crouching stance.

Sasuke kept his sword moving, not caring in the least that he was using a weapon against an empty-handed senior. It was a wooden sword anyway; it was Suisei's choice for discarding his own.

Suisei's nailed fingers wrapped around Sasuke's wrist, clamping over several tendons. Sasuke lost his grip, and he felt his arm wrenched around. Undeterred, Sasuke aimed a punch with his left hand — the old man threw that strike off as well.

Sasuke swiftly kicked upward. His rising dragon had never yet failed him. Suisei grabbed Sasuke's ankle, and threw him across the dusty ground.

Not losing balance, Sasuke skidded back on his feet. The lord advanced on him. The young ninja managed to parry or evade Suisei's blurring fists.

A hard blow suddenly was delivered into the ninja's stomach.

Sasuke's knees hit the ground. A cough of pain escaped him.

Laughter and applause came from behind. Sasuke turned his head, and saw the entire male court. He felt a bruise on his abdomen and another on his pride.

"Are you okay?"

The raven-haired ninja tilted his head. Sakura held a towel for him. Sasuke ignored it.

It sunk into him: Uchiha Sasuke had lost to an old man.

Lost.

Lost?

"Wait," Sasuke murmured, "I can't _lose._"

Sakura raised an eyebrow, before slapping the towel into Sasuke's face.

If he had won the duel, Sasuke could have almost thanked Sakura; she had soaked in the cloth in cold water. But he was in no mood to be grateful, because he had _lost._ "He's just a samurai," he whispered as she wiped his forehead, "I should have—"

"_My lord._" Her tone a loving lilt, but the twitch in the corner of Sakura's mouth was enough to shut him up. "Stop being a country bumpkin, thinking that there are no good fighters in the city." She drew close to his ear for a low hush. "Don't underestimate their martial arts, especially in weapons. Tenten's descendants come from around here."

Sasuke gave a scowl. He wiped his forehead with the towel.

"Why in the world is _that_ doing here in a man's area?"

Sasuke scowled again. Bokken in hand, he started after the minor lord. Sakura touched his shoulder. "Wait," she said. Sakura stepped where he had intended to go, and faced the lord on her own. "Sir, are you asking me for a duel?"

The man was startled. "O-of course not!" He forced a laugh. "I would never hurt a lady of court."

"Oh, but I do believe _my honor_ is at stake," Sakura said, her voice in a calm but firm tone. "I too am samurai." The low buzz around them alerted Sakura that she succeeded in the don't-give-a-damn reputation of the new bride Sakurako. "You referred to me as 'that'," Sakura said, "and a daughter of a dōjō cannot allow such an insult to go unanswered."

The lord glanced towards Sasuke, as if hoping he would berate his wife. Instead, Sasuke only looked at him, and tilted his head back towards Sakura. The confused lord then looked at Lord Suisei, as if begging for assistance.

"A match between you and Korogami's wife, it shall be," Suisei said, fingering his graying beard. "A match without bloodshed, of course. Use bokken."

The lesser lord appeared as if Suisei had betrayed him. "Very well," the lord said. He took a wooden sword and a protective mask from the rack, as did Sakura.

Sakura's brow creased as she went into position. The man before her was not looking at her directly in the eye. In this world of dueling, avoiding eye contact was polite.

Suisei threw down his palm. "Go!"

Sakura raised her bokken to block the incoming attack. The opponent's movement was a bit eccentric, as if his nerves were slightly unhinged. She even felt a bit sorry for him. It was obvious he had insulted Sakura only to gain a duel with Sasuke. She parried several attacks, and struck his right shoulder.

"One!" The old man Suisei smiled at the young woman's performance. "Position yourselves."

Sakura noticed that now the whole courtyard seemed focused on the match. She went back down to the starting position.

"Second round — go!"

Sakura decided to begin on the defensive this time. A strike from above. Left. Right. Upper left. Each move was readable enough to be blocked. Finally, she shifted her arm, and her opponent's bokken hit her shoulder.

Sasuke creased his eyes. Sakura had given him that strike.

Suisei made a lingering glance at Sakura, before he raised his hand for the third time. "Third round," he rumbled, "Go."

One second, and Sakura's bokken landed smack on her opponent's mask. A strike on the forehead — the move known as _men_ — signaled her win.

The two stepped back, bowed, and left the circle.

The pink-haired medic dropped the bokken back on the rack, and turned to meet her supposed-husband.

The Uchiha allowed himself to express a half-smile as he led her away from the silent crowd. "Well done."

* * *

Hinata shuddered.

She just had had an awful vision. It was the image of Potamos seducing the Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara. Thankfully Hinata knew how to end the vision before it got too risqué for her innocent mind.

Why or how that picture would appear in what was supposed to be a sacred reading of the fires, Hinata did not want to dwell on. She only hoped it was not an ill omen.

Hinata fingered a paper doll. The random situations into which her shikigami flew, made her ill-humored to make more. She had already summoned many to Sasuke and Sakura, only to have all of them still inactive. Well, one had activated. Kind of. It gave Hinata a brief image of Sakura, before Sasuke ended the connection with the stab of a knife.

No, it had not physical hurt Hinata. But when one's perspective moved to the paper itself, the image of being stabbed did not make her enthusiastic to approach Uchiha Sasuke. He was _scary_.

Hinata sensed that the two were stationed within some sort of chakra barrier, one not of their own will. Perhaps she could wait a week before trying to contact them again. Or rather, contact Sakura.

"Priestess, we shall go hunting for herbs!"

Hinata looked up to see Minoru in the doorway. A shaggy straw raincoat embraced his shoulders like a shawl. Hinata marveled that he could make even peasant clothing look chic. Now only if his pose was not so dramatic...

Minoru flung her a straw coat, which she caught on reflex. Hinata curtained it around her shoulders. If her father saw her in a straw coat, he might have told her she looked like a farmer girl.

'Being a farmer girl sounds nice,' Hinata thought, letting her mind drift through the possibilities. 'I could just live with plants. Plant a garden. With herbs. Maybe keep a pet goat. And if I had to fight, it would be with a mild weapon like a staff, with a style other than Jyuuken...'

"Priestess?"

At Minoru's voice, Hinata squeaked, and began fumbling with the ties of the straw hat. He was quick at her assistance, knotting the straps into place. His fingers were long and bony, Hinata noticed.

The two stepped out into the mountain air. Her vocal cords pricked as she inhaled.

The pine trees and stones of the high elevation held a haunting, barren tranquility. Yet as beautiful as it was, Hinata barely could concentrate on the landscape. How could Minoru be so tall and slender, yet able to walk up mountains without falling over?

Minoru threw her a knowing smirk. "If you are curious about my anatomy, I would not be ashamed."

Hinata leapt in her skin. "You are a mind-reader?"

A sharp laugh came from him. "I wonder," said Minoru. "But I am serious about the offer. You ought to take every chance to develop your Gift."

She refrained. She could not possibly scan Minoru's body with the Byakugan, even with his permission...

Her resistance lasted for three minutes.

"Go ahead," said Minoru.

With a strong gulp, Hinata switched to her Sight.

While the elf climbed the hill, Hinata studied his skeleton. The Hyuuga was intrigued. The bones of the hands, fingers, and legs were all slightly longer than a human's. Although his muscles were thin, his spiritual energy seemed to be flowing at a higher rate than normal, which Hinata guessed was the reason why he was so graceful.

Despite his physical laboring, Minoru had to smile. "Fascinated, are you?"

Hinata let her Sight fall away. Minoru's confidence, so high it was almost silly, rang a bell in Hinata.

"You resemble Naruto-kun," said Hinata.

Minoru's long hair whipped around. "I beg your pardon?"

"Well, in many ways, you're like him," said Hinata.

There was a new rigidity in Minoru's posture. "I have better hair, by far."

Hinata had to smile. "Your speech tends to be more elegant than Naruto's," Hinata said, "But otherwise, your declarations are just as... confident."

Minoru forced his eyes back on the rocky trail. "Priestess, you will give me nightmares."

Hinata giggled.

A cloud cloaked shadow over the two. Suds of rain began to roll over the stones, carrying bubbles and specks of dirt. Hinata studied the dry rock formations. She did not mind the mud brushing onto her red hakama pants, as her experiences with Team Eight had taught her that Nature was clean, and that its purity dwelt not only in clear water, but also in dark soil, lively insects, and the most pungent of plants.

"Minoru-san?" Hinata felt herself slow in her steps. "You forgot to mention what herb we're looking for."

There was a pulse of chakra at Minoru's wrist. "You should have observed that earlier, Priestess." The blond elf spun around, and a green whip appeared around his body.

Hinata leapt back. Her heel hit a rock, and she stumbled back. Hinata tried to regain balance with her other foot. She planted it on another rock, but she slipped; rain had made it slick. Expecting impact, she tensed.

Instead of her head hitting a stone, there was whiplash. She opened her eyes. There were hairy tendrils above. Thick vines had sprouted out from the rocks, cradling her in the air.

Minoru sighed. "When the next youkai attacks you with tentacles, you won't be ready."

Although Hinata felt relief as the tendrils set her down, she also was embarrassed. "The first youkai I defeated had tentacles."

"Interesting," said Minoru, meaning it was not interesting at all. He grabbed a vine and spun it in a circle. "I am dreadful with using vines as whips, actually. I more enjoy using them as hindrance mechanisms." Minoru flicked his index finger. The plants tightened around Hinata's legs, making her squeak. A dagger emerged from Minoru's sleeve. "Now parry all of my attacks."

Hinata felt more constriction on her body. Thicker tendrils were now locking her legs in place. Minoru strode towards her, his long legs dodging the jagged mountain rocks as if they were nothing more than leaves of grass.

He came closer, his face serious. In his palm rolled a dagger, which flashed green. In reflex, Hinata shot two fingers at his wrist.

A grunt of pain escaped Minoru as he stepped back. The green blade dropped from his hand, and burst into shreds of old vines upon contact with the earth. The blond rubbed the hit area of his wrist, meanwhile allowing a sea of green tendrils to swallow her.

The Priestess let off a short scream. The chakra in Minoru's plants was blinding; her Sight caused her to see nothing but a harsh, tan color.

The moment she turned off her technique, there was only black. She was completely surrounded.

Hinata felt the vines squeeze out circulation from her arms. The more she struggled, the tighter the vines seemed to become.

Hinata pushed, pulled, and tugged in every direction. She used every move that the Nawanuke no Jutsu required. 'A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.' Hinata sawed upon a thin tendril with a chakra-infused hand. 'Loosen your wrist, and gently move.'

Hinata aimed. She hit. She tried every trick in the book.

A familiar desperation overcame her. How could a non-ninja best her like this?

Minoru's voice traveled through the mass. "You still have a chance to get out, Priestess. If your regular vision cannot see an opening, _make_ an opening."

Through the vines trapping her, she now saw small rays of light. Outside the mass of vines that encircled her, the sun was out. Hinata thrashed her limbs. 'I_can't_.' She wanted to cry. 'Even after a Class Change, I can't... I can't!'

"Priestess!" Minoru's voice was firm, but gentle. "Do not convince yourself to give up so quickly, just because of a few obstacles. Turn that stress into your motivation."

Hinata swallowed. Her nose stuffy, she blinked at the thin beams of sunlight.

Another attempt at her Holy Sight? Perhaps she could do it. With a prayer, she sent holy chakra to her eyes. For a split second, she wanted to scream at the brightness. The vision hurt like the sun.

After about ten seconds, her eyes began to adjust.

With her Sight, Hinata looked around. Minoru's vines looked like a vast network, a brain, with tan-colored ki forming the nerves. Hinata decided to study the vines more closely. She noticed that more ki flowed within the thinner tendrils. The thicker tendrils had also power flowing through them, but not as much.

'The thicker vines are the weak link,' Hinata realized. She grabbed hold of a large, hairy tendril near her stomach. She sent chakra to her fingertips, and squeezed with the power of a cat sinking its claws into a mouse. The vine burst apart. Hinata rejoiced inside.

Hinata cut through more vines with her Jyuuken. With more room to move, she looked down. There was another thick tendril in front of her feet. Sending chakra into her toes, she kicked at the layers. The sounds of hacking told her she was making her way out. Hinata felt her hand burst into clean air and sunlight. There!

Hinata stumbled out of the cluster. She panted from the workout that was her escape, then made a defensive stance towards the sadistic blond.

Minoru smiled back. "You have passed the first round. Congratulations." The blond clapped once. "Your next task is to put me on my back."

Hinata shifted her leg's position, ready for more dirty tricks up his sleeve. "Will I have to go all out on you, Minoru-san?"

"You are much too kind to ask questions like that." Minoru crossed his arms. "Now, aim your holy attacks, _right at _my vital areas."

"No," Hinata said immediately. She then colored, stunned at her boldness. She had actually said the word _no. _To a stranger, no less! "I mean, there must be another way —"

A tendril wrapped around her ankle. Hinata's face slammed into the dirt.

"It's a taboo in your culture and upbringing to say the word _no_," said Minoru. "And instead of saying the obscenity, it is considered proper to offer alternatives." Minoru crouched down next to Hinata. "Lesson two, Priestess: while some enemies will find relief in the harmony you offer, some will take it as an opportunity to catch you off-guard."

The tendril released Hinata. Minoru struck with his fist.

Veins rose around Hinata's cheeks, and her hands burst out white chakra.

Hinata moved, her head gliding out of Minoru's punch. Her left hand caught his wrist. Before Hinata could touch a tenketsu, he wound his arm around, and suddenly his hand was holding her fingers in a death grip.

"Lesson three." Minoru squeezed Hinata's fingers. "The best counterattacks are your opponent's attacks, turned against themselves."

"I don't understand," Hinata said. She yelped as he threw off her wrist.

"Watch carefully," Minoru said. The tall blond made a fist, and raised it. Hinata backed away.

"I'm impressed that you can read postures," said Minoru, "but when you're being attacked, you shouldn't always back away." He slowly moved his fist towards Hinata, and stopped it a quarter of a meter away from her nose. "At this point, you should make a counter attack."

Hinata was hesitant. "Where?"

"It's up to you," Minoru said. "In my current position, where would it be best to disable me?"

Hinata thought a moment, and poked a spot on his elbow. It was harmless, as she put no chakra in the Jyuuken attack.

"That is one option." Minoru reached for her other hand, and folded it. "While I move to punch," — here Minoru guided Hinata's fist towards his torso — "I also create a new vulnerability for myself. One side of my chest is closer and more open to you."

Indeed, Hinata noticed it was a fairly easy target. And it was only open because of Minoru's stance as an attacker. She moved her fisted hand, and her knuckles rested onto the vulnerable area.

"We probably should also teach you a new martial art. If you use only ninja techniques to defend yourself, there's a possibility that people will notice you as a Hyuuga."

Hinata bit her lip. Indeed, her identity as the Hyuuga heiress was something she preferred to keep separate from her duties as Priestess of Souls. She already had to fight demons, so fighting foreign ninja now seemed a hassle.

"So..." Hinata bit her lip. "Does that mean I should abandon the Jyuuken?"

Minoru was briefly stricken. "Heavens, _no_!" he said. "The Jyuuken is extremely useful against demons. I only suggest training in a new martial art to increase your stamina, strength — and most importantly, a new mind set."

Hinata paused. "A mind set?" To her, frankly, it sounded lame at best and a scam at worst.

"It sounds simple, but it takes practice," said Minoru. "When you are in a life-threatening situation, your body has a built-in reflex to seize up, tremble, or lash out, correct?"

Hinata nodded. "Of course. The fight-or-flight response."

"Although," Minoru said, musing off to himself, "I supposed we could train using a few techniques from aikidō."

Hinata was about to ask what aikidō was, until she felt another presence. The cold, dry air of the mountain suddenly turned humid.

A clump of fog appeared on the hillside. As it rolled down, Minoru turned to speak to it. "Devil-child."

The fog cleared, its water collecting and forming into a petite girl.

"Hiya!" Potamos said to Minoru.

Potamos then turned and hugged Hinata. The priestess stiffened for a moment, but relaxed. Though Potamos had cool skin, her embrace was soft as bath bubbles. "Hina-chan," Potamos murmured, "you're not doing grueling work because of Mino-chan, are you?" The water-demon gave a chilling breath in Hinata's ear. "Say the word, and I can try to kill him."

"Try_,_" Minoru stated.

Hinata felt a new pulse from the water-demon. It felt dull and dark, like the Hardened Soul — the previous state of her Yasanagi no Magatama when it was unpurified. Hinata drew away, not so much afraid of Potamos herself, but of what she seemed to be holding.

"Did you fetch the item?" Minoru asked.

Out of her bust, Potamos flourished an octagonal mirror. "Ta-dah!"

One glance told Hinata immediately that it was a fragment of the sacred mirror. "The Yata no Kagami," said Hinata. "A piece of it, anyway." She then turned to Minoru to see his reaction.

At first, the blond elf gave a strange silence, as if waiting for something in addition.

"Devil-child," Minoru said, then exhaled. "You were supposed to look for _two_ fragments of the mirror. I see only one."

Potamos tapped it with a gloved finger. "This _is_ the second fragment."

"What happened to the first?" Minoru's tone hinted that he already dreaded whatever answer was coming up.

"I traded it with a Jinchuuriki who had a fragment of his own!" Potamos wrapped her arms around her shoulders sensuously. "Oh, it was lovely to tame him."

Hinata paled. The vision! "Sabaku no Gaara?"

Potamos' head whipped towards Hinata. "Was that the redhead's name?"

Hinata now felt ill with the horrifying — or hot? — pictures that burned itself in her thoughts. Potamos had been intimate with him! "Gaara-sama is a chronic insomniac because of the Bijuu sealed inside him," Hinata said, as if babbling would bleach her mind of the images. "If he had a piece of the mirror..."

"Gaara-_sama_?" Potamos wondered why Hinata had addressed him with the honorific. "I thought demon-carriers were shunned by society here."

"Well, Gaara-sama is a demon-carrier," admitted Hinata, "but he's also the—"

"Devil-child," Minoru said. The blond elf held a stern expression towards Potamos. "Are you telling me that you _willfully_ gave away a piece of one of the Sacred Treasures, to a human who carries a demon?"

The statement sunk into Potamos, and she briefly hesitated. "Um... yes?"

Minoru's blue eyes took on an angry blaze. "GO BACK AND RETRIEVE IT!" Minoru roared.

The water-demon squeaked before shooting off.

* * *

Sakura balanced herself along the spine of a roof. Under her feet, a dark aura radiated from the building.

She pulled together the front of her montsuki-shirt, attempting to preserve body heat.

'I should have known Sasuke wouldn't do anything.' She smelled the evil stench from beneath. 'Or at least, he wouldn't do it fast enough.'

Sakura went through several hand-seals. She locked her hands in a gesture of prayer, and closed her eyes. A serene chakra pulsed throughout her body. She separated her hands glowing with rose-colored chakra, and slammed them on the tiles of the house.

Nothing happened, save the wind blowing.

Sakura blinked at the exorcism — or the lack thereof. She was sure that she had expelled an amount of chakra. Yet upon emerging, it had disappeared.

Sakura again tried the set of seals. She raised her hands up as high as a madwoman, and slammed them down onto the roof's tiles.

The pink aura of her hands fizzled out.

The medic was left with a sinking disbelief.

Sakura leapt upon another building which jarred her demon-senses, and attempted the spell. Again, there was a brief appearance of her pink aura, but no exorcism. She went to the next, and tried again. The same thing happened.

A strange feeling rose in her. Was it fear? Her pink aura, the only energy that repelled demons — or rather, ate through their flesh like acid — was going out like a dying lamp. And she did not know why.

There was a pulse of evil chakra in the air. Sakura swallowed. The glow appeared behind her, to her left.

Large, rolling eyes flashed above her shoulder.

Sakura leapt away, adding a layer of illusionary petals around her form. She managed to end up in the shadows of an irregular roof.

From her hiding spot, Sakura squinted at the creature. The eye of a giant chameleon cranked in her direction. Its tongue snapped against her arm. Sakura hissed as miasma burned her shoulder.

Her body rolled violently across the rough tiles of the roof. She opened her eyes, and saw she was supported by nothing but a pool of air.

Sakura send chakra to her uninjured arm, and latched onto the roof's edge.

She hung there, a bit frazzled. Sakura took a gulp of air. She send another wave of chakra to her arm.

The kunoichi made a pull-up with a single arm. She scrambled up the roof, and landed a powerful punch into the mutant lizard.

* * *

Naruto banged on the wall. "HEY! Let me out!"

The zaps from the wall alerted him that it was a sealing jutsu. It felt like hitting an iron door, even though no bruises were forming on his knuckles. Worse, this seal also appeared to have some chakra-draining properties.

**'How dare they try another seal on me?' **The roar was murderous. **'I'll tear them to pieces!'**

In Naruto's mind sprung images of the Hyuuga clan's bodies, bathed in blood and fire. Back in the real world, Naruto slammed a red-glowing fist into the wall.

Naruto gave a relieved sigh as the wall sucked in the angry, red chakra of the Kyuubi. "Here's a perk of chakra-sucking walls," Naruto muttered, "shuts up the voices in your head."

A wisp of smoke trailed from his hand. He had an idea.

He charged his palm again with Kyuubi chakra, and touched the wall. Fire roared in his veins, before he pulled his hand away again.

Heavy pants escaped Naruto. It had glowed only a second or so, but feeding chakra to it had highlighted the seal's pattern.

Naruto struck it again. White lines formed on the quaking wall. The pattern reminded Naruto of ocean waves.

'Ocean waves?' Naruto scratched his chin. 'Ocean. Water. Water jutsu.' He reached into the memories that he had received through the Class Change ceremony, and seized upon one thread.

Naruto saw a waterfall before him. He noticed he was wearing priest's clothing — or more accurately, the person whose original memory this was, had been a priest — and a red-glowing stone sat in the middle of the lake.

His consciousness rushed back to the dirty, stale library. But his mind still possessed the spell. His fingers worked the sequence, and he slammed his hand on the wall. 'Kai-in!'

* * *

A sharp wind bit at Sasuke.

Latched in the underside of a roof, his skin was in goose bumps against the night air.

Ah, the blissful pain of Nature.

He admitted a bit of masochism in this manner. Getting hurt from other ninja sucked, because that just proved his incompetence. But when it was the greater forces of nature, Sasuke embraced pain. The Uchiha had before caught many a chill while training during storms, in caves, under waterfalls.

The advisors inside the warm room chattered over mostly mundane issues. If it were not necessary for him to glue himself with chakra to the underside of a roof, Sasuke might have fallen asleep listening to the conversation.

Sasuke withdrew his left hand, and raised it in front of him. An open book appeared, and Sasuke found himself browsing it, studying the details of demons while the formalized gossip went on.

"Next lord of inquiry," one voice bellowed, "Kokugami."

Sasuke let the book disappear. Finally, a review of his acting performance.

"There's nothing that looks odd about Kokugami, save his previous status as a servant," said Suisei.

"It's not Kokugami who is suspicious. It's his wife, Sakurako." One of the generals was speaking. "She reminds me of a particular warrior."

A muscle in Sasuke's leg was beginning to pull.

"It was last fall's public ninja examinations. There was a woman-ninja with the name of Sakura."

Sasuke's mouth grew tight. The conversation could only grow worse.

One advisor gave a skeptical huff. "Even if this Sakura were infiltrating this place, she wouldn't be so dumb as to take a name like Sakurako."

A full cramp entered Sasuke's leg.

"We must examine _everything_." Suisei's voice was sharper than Sasuke had heard in public. "What information did you gather of that Sakura?"

"Inhumane strength," said another advisor, reading from a list of notes. "She could disintegrate the ground with her bare hands. Her hair was the color of her namesake. And she used a broadsword to slay her opponent." An ill murmur passed the room. "Of course, Lady Sakurako seems to show more refined sword skills than that forest barbarian, so..."

Suisei remained suspicious. "What other things featured that woman-ninja of the Leaf?"

The general cleared his throat. "She seemed to like girls."

"_And_?" rumbled Suisui in an impatient tone. "That's normal for teenage girls."

That comment nearly made Sasuke fall. He grabbed a tighter hold, remembering that eight stories' worth of thin air was underneath him.

"I mean, more specifically, that the Sakura-woman liked _only_ women."

A consensus of understanding swept the meeting. "Oh..."

One advisor burst out, "Sakurako despises her husband, Lord Kokugami! That must mean she's—"

"She displays many things, but she does not _hate_ her husband," said another. "She even seems to fuss over him at certain times. Like a prostitute."

Sasuke heard a bit of envy in the comment, but he barely cared, as he had to hang on for dear life while fighting torture in his leg. He let some chakra to trickle into the painful knot of a muscle, hoping that chakra could somehow ease his discomfort. It did not.

"The honeymoon act could be a mere front," said Suisei. "What is the activity in their room like?"

The Uchiha inched his hands across the bars. He craned his neck, and found a crack through which he saw the whole room.

One advisor fingered his collar, uncomfortable. "Nothing..."

Suisei frowned. "Lord Kokugami is not taking her?"

"There's nothing!" The officer was flushed in slight embarrassment. "There is no sound whatsoever in Kokugami's room that indicates... _copulating_!"

A strange rush of heat entered Sasuke's face. He tried to keep focus on the lords' conversation — but now it sounded like twitter.

"Perhaps he prefers men?"

"No, I already tried. His eyes were frightening."

Sasuke wished someone else could do this spying for him. No, wait, he did not want such embarrassing ideas to leak out to anybody else.

The right side of his rib cage began to feel warm.

The omamori! Sasuke never thought Hinata's protective charm would be so welcoming. He grasped at his clothing, digging for the silken packet. It was somewhere in his shirt.

Under — or more accurately, above — Sasuke's feet, the pieces of the roof shattered.

Several of the lords looked out the window. Nobody was there. They shrugged, and continued their meeting.

Sasuke was already in free fall. The ninja bit hard on his thumb. 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu!'

There was an awkward jolt.

No snake came out of his hand.

The ground was racing towards him. With no time to curse, Sasuke put chakra into his hand, and grabbed the speeding wall. The bumps and ridges raked across his palm. He decelerated.

Sasuke's feet hit the ground with a soft pad. 'I'm alive.' He took a breath, thankful for his own safety. He looked up, and saw a long, vertical scar on the wall, produced by his own chakra. He fled the scene.

As Sasuke ran, he thought of possible reasons of why the Kuchiyose no Jutsu had failed. Perhaps he had not giving enough chakra into the calling technique? No, he had done it millions of times before. Neither had he been terribly drained of chakra, even after hanging upside down while listening in on the lords.

Sasuke then remembered the disaster that was Sakura's initial attempt in entering the palace: the chakra barrier.

It blocked calling jutsu. That was his best theory, anyway. It would also explain why Hinata's enchanted paper-dolls — shikigami — had only appeared in the city outside the palace gates.

He had to leave the barrier. At least for now.

The barrier washed over Sasuke as he jumped over the fence. He ran down, and landed onto the dirt road of the commoners.

The flow of adrenaline slowed as he walked into the commoner's district. He was back in territory that was familiar to him. Dirt and shadows.

Sasuke looked at his palm, the one he used with chakra to slow down his fall. The flesh had small pebbles imbedded. He send another burst of chakra through, making the grit burst out with blood like tiny volcanoes. It hurt, but it was better to do it now rather than later. He twisted around a roll of gauze that Sakura had given him, tying it with help of his teeth.

Something hissed from the darkness. "Master."

The Uchiha saw a dark tendril on the ground. Sasuke swept it up in his hands. "I didn't think a mere chakra-barrier would hinder our link," he said, his form of an apology. Sasuke drew out a dead rat from his pocket, which he had killed on reflex while crawling through the narrow spaces of the palace.

The small anaconda locked its jaws over the dead animal and swallowed it whole. "You should be better acquainted with your jutsu and its possible limits."

"Orochimaru said a calling contract went past the fourth dimension," Sasuke groused, leaping onto the rooftops.

"Time is the fourth dimension," said the snake. He coiled around Sasuke's left arm. The Uchiha could feel the lump that was the consumed rat. "A calling jutsu ought to go through a _normal _chakra barrier."

Sasuke looked back at the palace walls, and back at the anaconda. "Explain."

"Things are not what they seem." The reptile disappeared with a poof.

Sasuke frowned, and continued to walk. The omamori grew warm in his hand.

A black sheet covered Sasuke's vision. He looked up, and saw two red slits for eyes in a sea of black.

He zapped a kunai with sliver chakra, and used it to slice through the phantom. Sasuke heard a hollow scream, and the miasma dissolved around him in droplets. The crescent moon hit his eyes once more.

The Uchiha examined the house he now perched. The tiles of roof seemed to rattle.

Sasuke willed his silver aura to his heel, and stomped hard on the roof. The silvery aura traveled through the tiles like a ripple on water.

Spheres of blue light burst from the undersides of the tiles. To Sasuke's disgust, the glowing hitodama feathered all over him before taking off in the air — some towards the palace, and some wafting upward to the stars. The souls were only grateful for the release, but for Sasuke it was still unwanted touch.

Sasuke clawed at the air, and The Book of Demons and Curses appeared. He had faith that Sakura was all right, so he would track her later. But the amount of souls that he found around the kimono shop alone was more than he had calculated. There likely was a demon in the commoners' area, and he wished to be ready.

He slid down the roof, and flipped onto the neighboring household, to get a better angle of what building had released the collection of hitodama.

- Orihime's Kimono Shop -

It was the shop where he and Sakura had found clothing implanted with demon eggs. The owner's involvement was uncertain. But it was proof enough that the nobility were being targeted.

Sasuke reached over, and fingered the wall. A silver piece of paper appeared.

A crash jolted him out of his stillness. He leapt up to the highest building, looked down, and saw a line of Tsunade-style demolition. It was Sakura all right.

Sasuke decided to conceal himself, and watch her.

* * *

Sakura's leg swiped the remaining bones of the giant lizard. They collapsed into a pile of dust.

After the black blood hissed off her blade, Sakura slid Tennyo back into her scabbard, and made her way to the castle gates.

Sakura lifted her hand. She focused, and a small dot of chakra emerged.

'False alarm,' she thought with relief. 'My holy ki is _not_ gone.' Sakura looked back at the commoner's district. Now she had to figure out _why_ her spells had not been working in certain places.

It was as if select buildings were _refusing_ to be rid of demons.

Exhausted, Sakura decided to just call it a night. She turned in the direction of the palace.

A spear was thrust before her face. It was a guard at the gate.

"Halt!" Saliva flew from his mouth. "What business do you have here at this time of night?"

Sakura lifted her straw hat a little, just enough for the guard to see her face. "Just out for a night stroll." She managed to make her eyes glisten with tears. "To escape my husband for a moment."

The guard jolted at the sight. "Lady Sakurako. O-of course." He did not notice the haze of rosy sparkles around him as he spoke.

Sakura lifted a hand to the guard's cheek, barely feathering it. "You must be tired." The guard made a nod. His eyes closed at her touch. Sakura's hand left him, and he was still. The guard had fallen asleep while standing in armor.

Uchiha Sasuke simmered as he watched Sakura walk away from the guard. Sasuke forced himself to pass the snoozing guard without tipping him over.

Sakura now appeared to be speeding up. She knew that she was being followed.

"Why aren't you in bed?" asked Sasuke.

Sakura halted. "I... wanted some fresh air?" Her clothing was speckled with dried youkai blood.

Instead of accusing her of lying, Sasuke focused on a rip on her uniform, its frayed edges matted with blood. "You need to get that wound treated."

"I've already healed it," said Sakura. "The uniform just needs a wash. And a patch-up." Sakura turned, and saw that he was still displeased. She continued hastily, "If you're upset, then I promise I won't sneak out." She gave a shifty glance. "At least until further notice."

How vague, he noted. "A talk," Sasuke said.

Sakura looked up at him. She gave him a quizzical look.

Sasuke blinked at this. He thought a bit, and realized that she was requesting him to elaborate on his words.

"Us," Sasuke ground out. The word mortified him.

His former teammate paused in thought. "You want us to talk," Sakura translated.

The Uchiha nodded.

Sakura looked at him as if he were crazy. "Why?"

A strange feeling prickled in Sasuke's head. The discussion in Suisei's inner circle only minutes ago echoed in his mind.

(( "Inhumane strength. She could disintegrate the ground with her bare hands. Her hair was the color of her namesake. And she used a broadsword to slay her opponent." ))

Sasuke did not like this situation. Sakura had just left a trail of craters, for slaying one demon. She also happened to be walking around with a sword.

"You could have run," Sasuke finally said.

Her face turned a bit cross. "Even if I had run, it would've caught up to me."

"The protective chakra wall?" Sasuke said. "Around the castle."

Sakura colored. She obviously had forgotten about it. "S-so what!" she stuttered. "What about the townspeople? _They_ need protection from youkai."

Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets. "I already told you, I would take care of it."

"Oh, and you are _so_ good at it," the kunoichi snapped. "A demon egg hatched."

They exchanged no words as they marched through the garden. Sasuke felt the tension was not so much of a married couple, but of business rivals. Sasuke lifted a hand to his head. The odd pressure in his temple was still building.

(("Kokugami is not taking her?"

"There's nothing! There is no sound whatsoever in Kokugami's room that indicates... _copulating_!" ))

He needed to tell her.

"I," Sasuke said.

Sakura let off a yawn, not bothering to cover her mouth. "Yeah?" she asked.

"I'll take care of the commoners' district," he repeated. The urge to sleep, with nerves, pounded on Sasuke's thought process. "Just..."

Sakura paused. She seemed to realize that Sasuke was trying to tell her something important.

(( "Perhaps he prefers men?"

"No, I already tried. His eyes were frightening." ))

Now Sasuke realized that the whole court of the Mizumai palace pissed him off. Half the nobles were frivolous and ignorant, and the other half was made up of terrified captives who seemed to grow weaker by the day.

Sasuke felt something warm touch his wrist. He turned his head, and saw Sakura's expression of concern.

"Your pulse is weak." Sakura cradled his wrist, which made him tense. Her warm hand reminded him of family. But she was not his family. "Are you alright?"

The Uchiha finally concluded the best course of action. He just had to tell her the truth. He had to explain everything to her. Sakura was a rational kunoichi.

Their guest room back in the castle has listening devices, not cameras. So he and Sakura had to only make it _sound_ like —

"We're copulating."

Sakura dropped his hand as if it were a toad. After a bewildered pause, Sakura said, "Excuse me, _what_?"

Sasuke inwardly cursed. Ripping the words from Suisei's advisors had only made him sound like an illiterate pervert.

"I mean," Sasuke said, seeking to correct his words, "we have to have sex."

There was another moment of dead silence.

The Uchiha wondered why the pink-haired medic was so still, and so quiet. Her reaction was, in essence, nothing.

"Oh," Sakura finally said. "Just checking."

Her hand locked onto the handle of her sword, Tennyo.

Sasuke took one step back. "What are you doing," he stated.

"I'm tired of this happening to me." Ill humor laced Sakura's voice. Her eyes seemed to blink several times, before she glared at him. "Who are you?"

The two stood like statues.

Being a ninja, Sasuke easily understood what she meant. "You think I'm an imposter," Sasuke said.

"Of course," Sakura said. "That man would never try that sort of intimacy with a woman, at least not until first ambition is fulfilled." She looked strangely sad. "And he would never risk giving his seed to the wrong woman." Sakura flexed her fingers over the katana's hilt. "Now, on the count of three, tell me who you really are, and why you are here."

Sasuke remained motionless. "It's _me_, Sakura."

"Don't call me that." Sakura's thumb landed on Tennyo's guard. "_One_."

He heavily exhaled. All this trouble could have been avoided if they had first agreed upon a code word. 'Code words,' he thought. 'Definitely code words in the future.' And what the hell had Sakura meant, that she was 'tired of this'? Tired of what? That other ninja impersonated him and showed up before Sakura, or that other ninja asked to sleep with her? They deserved a long and painful death, Sasuke decided.

"Two," Sakura chanted.

Sasuke wished for the ability to laugh. This mission turned out to give more trouble than he had calculated. Seriously, though, he had to come up with something fast within the next second.

"Three."

Sasuke jerked back. The sword reflected the red lanterns swinging in the garden. "You're crazy!" Sasuke hissed.

"I've had a bad night!" Sakura said in an almost hysterical voice. "And seeing yet _another_ idiot trying that trick on me — oh, you are so DEAD!" She cut through the air, her green eyes livid. Sasuke enveloped himself in a blanket of leaves. He reappeared behind Sakura, and grabbed her from behind. With chakra in her muscles, Sakura threw him off.

He was already flying. Sasuke glanced back. A wall of stone was coming near. He turned on his Sharingan. The image of a domestic cat flashed in his mind. The creature could land on its feet — logically, then, he could reapply that movement to his own limbs, and make safe impact against a wall.

A nauseous pain shot through him a second later. Sasuke pulled himself from the wall. He had no broken bones; good. But still did it smart.

He drew his posture upright, and tried to give Sakura a glare. Instead he saw a coming swing of a katana. He lifted up his kunai, which blocked the katana with a loud clash. "Sakura, it's _me!_"

The clack of geta sandals made both of them turn. Another person was there.

From a cluster of leaves and jasmine flowers, a young woman emerged, carrying a lyre. Her luxurious kimono was draped artistically over her shoulders. Her hair was in an elaborate style that geisha wore, with pins and combs in every direction like a halo. Her gait and coy smile, however, suggested a more earthly occupation.

Sasuke and Sakura pushed their weapons off the other, and stared at the woman.

Sasuke felt his pocket grow warmer. The omamori was reacting to the presence of the courtesan.

"Lover's quarrel?" The eerie woman gave a lazy smile. "You two are a terrible match."

Sasuke sent out a mental command. The Book of Demons and Curses obediently warped in his hand — and clamped over his fingers. He cursed, flinging the book into the dusty ground.

The loud thwack made Sakura and the strange woman jump. Sakura huffed at the interruption, and put her focus back on the woman.

Within the haze of floating dust, the pages of the book flipped in the windless air, and stopped. Sasuke's eyes caught the page. It had the painting of a demon. It had no resemblance to the woman before them, but there was a way to confirm it.

"Nopperabou," said Sasuke, looking at the courtesean. Her eyes turned wide in response. That was enough confirmation for Sasuke.

"Nopperabou?" Sakura repeated, not knowing that youkai would have names.

"It's a youkai that peels the faces off people." Sasuke took a great gulp of air and made several hand-seals. 'Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!' A sphere of fire exploded from Sasuke's breath, catching hold of the courtesan's face. Whether the opponent was a savage beast or a well-dressed lady, Sasuke did not give a moment's mercy.

With his Sharingan, Sasuke glared at Sakura, enough to confirm his identity.

It was only for a split second, but Sakura froze. She looked away. Sakura turned her blade to point towards the youkai. "We'll talk later," she told Sasuke. "I'll take care of _her_." The medic draped herself in an illusion of flower petals, and disappeared.

Sasuke lowered his book. He had expected Sakura to show relief at seeing his bloodline limit. The Sharingan was what made him an Uchiha. Instead, he had seen pure terror.

Before he could think further on the matter, his thoughts were interrupted by a sharp laugh.

The face of the courtesan, known as Nopperabou, was now burned beyond recognition. "The Book of Demons and Curses?" Still giggling, she peeled off the charred skin from her face. "In the wrong hands, that's just a cheap little book," she said. "Can't you even do a single curse?" Her lips crumbled away into ash.

Sasuke shuddered. Nopperabou's figure was every bit the dainty woman, with loose, lavish clothes. The only problem was her face. Nopperabou was a demon with no eyes, no nose, and no mouth. Her face was now just a blank, round ball of skin.

The pages of the Book flipped again within Sasuke's palm. His eyes drew towards the paper, curious of what else it had to tell. At that moment, Nopperabou charged. Her hands disappeared in the sleeves of her kimono, and emerged with long, white nails glowing with youkai energy. She aimed at the young man.

Sakura burst from a curtain of jasmine flowers. She planted a fist in Nopperabou's ribs. The faceless demon flew meters back, crashing in the center of the orchard.

Sasuke was beyond belief, then disgusted with himself, that he dared to attempt reading a book in the midst of battle. He turned away as Sakura approached him. "I got distracted," he said, his form of an apology.

"Don't worry about it. Starting with a fire-jutsu was the correct decision." Sakura rubbed her wrist. "My joints are a little out of practice, and I don't have my protective gloves. But I can protect you while you check Nopperabou's stats with that book of yours."

Sasuke was still angry at himself, but determined to get up to speed. "I can do this _alone_."

Sakura's lips tightened. She put a hand to her chest, and took a deep breath. "Very well." Her hands flicked into a sequence, and her image dissolved in a swarm of flower petals.

Sasuke followed her with his eyes. Even if no excess ki escaped Sakura's body due to her flawless chakra control, his Sharingan could still pick up on other clues of her movement.

Sakura planted herself in another tree. From her hiding place, Sakura's fingers bend again, directing the illusion to swarm around Nopperabou's senses.

Taking advantage of the moment, Sasuke glanced at the book. It had opened itself to the Introduction.

- This book is an index of demons, and a medium of casting spells which will temporarily impede your opponents. Speed, power, mental clarity, whatever strength you can imagine of your opponent, you can modify to your own advantage. This is the key to creating weakness. -

Nopperabou wandered out of the orchard, and circled aimlessly around the grass.

Sakura inhaled slowly. She tightened her grip on the illusion she was casting on Nopperabou.

Sasuke's mind halted at Nopperabou's blank face. Something in his logic tugged at him. That demon had no eyes.

"It's a trap!" Sasuke shouted to Sakura.

Long, sharp needles shot out from Nopperabou's sleeve, extending like a pole. A gasp escaped Sakura's mouth before she twisted to evade the attack. One scratched by the side of her rib cage. Sakura let her katana fly, and the glowing, white-painted pieces scattered over the grass. 'Nails?'

Light laughter came from Nopperabou.

Sasuke tightened his jaw. He now saw that Nopperabou had long sensed Sakura's illusion, but had only acted that she had been under its influence. But Sakura's visual illusion could not have fooled Nopperabou – after all, without a set of working eyes of her own, the youkai was effectively _blind._

Sakura leapt back with chakra in her legs, moving quietly over the soft grass. Nopperabou's head turned to follow the kunoichi's movement. Sakura now noticed what Sasuke already knew.

Silently, from her pocket, Sakura drew an exploding bead — a kanshaku-dama — and threw it to a rock. The explosion made Nopperabou jerk her head in the other direction. Tiny ears showed as Nopperabou moved. Sakura remained frozen in her area. The blind Nopperabou circled around, trying to find the kunoichi.

Sakura was about to draw her sword, when a line of blood spurted from the youkai. Nopperabou stumbled back, with a large needle in the pale mound of flesh that was her face.

"Use arial weapons." The Uchiha twirled a senbon in his fingers. "If we stick to distance, this thing is finished."

The demon, now in a panic that her weakness was discovered, latched on the stone wall of the outer castle gate. She was trying to escape.

Sakura exhaled. It appeared Nopperabou had no idea that beyond the wall she was wafting up, there was a chakra wall. "I'll put her out of her misery." Just when Sakura was ready to run up after the demon, Sasuke grabbed her wrist.

"Didn't you hear me?" said Sasuke. "I said, use arial weapons."

"Let go!" Sakura threw off his wrist. "It's not like you've gotten the hang of your Class Change!"

He felt something tug on his hand. He looked down, and saw that the Book of Demons and Curses had appeared in his hand on its own. He let it fall open. A blank page glared a single sentence at him.

- The ability to cast impediments will only be granted to those who are willing to know its gravity. -

'Useless!' Sasuke put his focus back on Sakura. "I merely pointed out that projectiles are needed," Sasuke said, pointing at Nopperabou from a distance. "I am better suited."

"I can take care of this _alone_," Sakura said.

Sasuke watched as the medic-nin sprinted after the youkai. He wished he could yell. He was so frustrated with her! Why wasn't Sakura taking his advice? Sakura knew perfectly well that the Uchiha specialized in the shuriken arts. A pen appeared in his hand. With little thought and much fury, he wrote the words down.

- Haruno Sakura: chakra inhibition -

Honestly, Sasuke had not believed it could work.

Sakura was already halfway up a wall. Nopperabou's long kimono was an arm's length away from Sakura. The medic reached, a glint in her eye. "I've got y—"

Her left leg turned stiff. Then her right.

Nopperabou heard Sakura's choke of disbelief. The blind demoness turned her empty face, and shot her nails towards the sound.

Sasuke watched, frozen, as two long needles went through Sakura's torso. He did not even shout. He only ran towards her falling figure.

Sakura crashed into him. Ignoring the pain, Sasuke got up and scrambled to get her in a better position. The heightened sight that the Sharingan gave him made his hands look slow and clumsy, which only increased his panic.

Sakura opened her mouth.

"Don't talk," Sasuke ordered. The Uchiha glanced up. Nopperabou was retreating. Sasuke turned his attention back on Sakura, looking for where she had been stabbed. He found a dark-red stain over her chest.

The sound of flipping of pages roared in his ears. Sasuke glanced to the side, and saw the Book of Demons and Curses lying on the grass. It stopped open at the endnotes. Where before there was a blank page, new words glowed in silver.

- Congratulations. Through your wish to witness a curse on a friend, you have been granted the ability to curse all, both allies and enemies. -

A pit grew in Sasuke's stomach. 'No. That wasn't a _wish!_ I wrote...'

"...ke."

His normal senses snapped back to the present. Sakura was speaking to him. Sasuke pulled his eyes away from the sick handwriting, and dared to look at her.

"Sasuke, lift my right hand," Sakura whispered. "Put it to the wound."

Sasuke only nodded, once. He grasped her hand — bony and cold, a sign of blood loss — and rested it over her chest.

Sakura cracked a smile. "She missed the heart," said the medic. "Only a lung got poked." She released an enormous cough. Her blood flecked on Sasuke's face. His tongue constricted.

Sakura pushed away his hand, which he realized had been still attached to hers.

The medic-nin's expression remained calm, even stubborn, as she sank her green-glowing fingers into her chest. She held it there for ten seconds. She next treated the gash on to the right side of her rib cage. Finally, she stretched her left arm and reached for her shoulder blade, the third and last place she had been wounded.

Sasuke turned away. It was to examine all angles of their surroundings, but also to avoid looking at her. Sakura was healing wounds that he had essentially caused.

He heard a soft exhale. He glanced to the side, and saw Sakura peaceful, her eyes almost closed.

After moments of silence, Sasuke realized Sakura's gaze was locked on him. Her arm was lifted. She was pointing one finger. At him.

Sasuke felt like a knife was put in his chest and twisted. He was responsible for Sakura's current state, all because of a book. He had disabled her chakra for just _one_ moment, and —

But Sakura didn't know. She _couldn't_ have known.

Her sign was not an accusation. It was a warning.

The sound of silk cloth ruffled behind him. Sasuke remembered that Nopperabou had been wearing a kimono.

Still crouching over Sakura, Sasuke unraveled a Fuuma Shuriken, and flung it upward.

The blade gouged into the youkai's chest. From the wound poured out miasma. Nopperabou's mouth formed a silent scream as she disappeared.

Sasuke reached into his pocket, and felt the omamori. Its temperature was waning. He saw Sakura open her mouth to speak. "I know," he stated, "She's not dead. Yet."

The medic blinked, then gave a weak nod. Using Sasuke as an anchor, Sakura pulled herself in a standing position. At the hint of a wobble, Sasuke easily caught her. She relented at his support.

A heavy cough burst from her. Sasuke quickly drew out a handkerchief. Sakura grappled after it, and shoved it into her mouth to silence a long episode of hacking.

Sasuke quietly watched as dark liquid spotted through the cloth. After a minute or so, the coughs died away.

Sakura pulled away the stained handkerchief from her mouth. Her eyes were red and watery. "Leftover blood." She found Sasuke's left hand. "From now on, I'm checking this," she said, squeezing a hard callous on the middle finger. "Okay?"

Sasuke gave a weak nod. That was the callous that showed his experience in writing left-handed. That was not something that could be easily mimicked with a Henge no Jutsu. "What about you?"

"I don't know." Sakura rested her head against his shoulder, and made a clear sigh. "Let's sleep on it."

Sasuke tensed at the unnecessary closeness, but then realized that she was just exhausted. He put one supporting hand on her shoulder as she leaned on him.

Then her fist made a light pound on his chest. "What in hell's blazes is going on?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke looked at her, confused.

Sakura's anger showed in her temple. "Do _not_ force me to repeat your awful choice of words."

Oh, right. Copulating. He had to explain that.

"They're suspecting you." Sasuke again felt ill as Sakura raised her eyebrow. "The court. One of Suisei's advisors had seen you at the Chuunin Exams. So they think..." He trailed off, not wishing to explain further.

Her comprehension was immediate. "Because Lady Sakurako is bitchy to her husband, and they still believe that old rumor that Haruno Sakura is a lesbian — they believe they're one and the same person?" Sakura gave a laugh no louder than a murmur. "What simplistic advisors. Lady Sakurako could just be repulsed by Kokugami's low birth as a former servant."

"They're paranoid," Sasuke said. He swallowed. "They also bugged our room again."

"Sick," said Sakura.

Sasuke silently agreed. He was too tired to talk further about it.

"So that's why you said we should — no, you _demanded_..." Sakura did not finish the sentence, instead giving his shoulder another light pound with her fist. "I could have killed you, you insensitive prick."

"Forget what I said," Sasuke said, now embarrassed. "I didn't mean it."

"Of course you didn't." Sakura's light laugh signaled that she was back to normal.

"In the meantime," said Sasuke, "refrain from acting like a lesbian in public."

"You jerk," Sakura said pertly, "All girls act weird, no matter what their preferences." Her green eyes were now impish. "Besides, it's considered healthy for young girls to have small girl-crushes on their sempai."

He scoffed, not believing her. "Even you?"

Sakura gave him a mysterious smile. "Maybe."

Before Sakura could dare to elaborate, the Uchiha grabbed her and flipped her over his shoulders.

"Hey!" Sakura spat out strands of pink hair that had flown into her mouth. "I'm not a carcass!"

Actually, Sakura decided, the view down his back was rather nice. Not just Sasuke's backside, but the view of the city as he carried her higher and higher, from palace building to another. She squinted as the walls flew by. "Is that a _chakra_ scar on the main building?"

Sasuke slid open the window of wood and paper, and swung in. He set Sakura down on the closest futon, and checked the outside for any possible witnesses. None. He then closed the window. Sasuke exhaled, and stepped towards the area where the futons were. "Sakurako."

Silence. Sasuke's foot hit softness, and he knelt down. Sasuke wanted to know why she was not answering. He reached forward. His hand accidentally hit her knee, and she flinched. "What's wrong?" Sasuke asked.

"Don't you dare," said Sakura, her voice low.

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose. Because he had carried her to their sleeping quarters, Sakura thought that he wished to bed her. No, he could not. Not in a room that he knew was bugged with listening devices. Uchiha Sasuke had some standards of privacy, thank you. It was a pathetic court indeed, that a lord like Suisei had paranoia that drove him to what was technically voyeurism. It made Sasuke disappointed in humanity.

Sasuke stood up, and retraced his footsteps back to the window. He slid it open. A thin crescent moon met his eyes. The Uchiha gestured to Sakura. "Come here."

Hesitant, she looked up, and approached. She stood by him at the window, and tilted her head up to the cool night air. "The moon is lovely." She turned around, ready for bed. "Thank you for showing me."

Sasuke caught her arm. "Not that."

Sakura tightened the front of her sleeping robe. She looked again. Besides the half-moon and dark blue sky, she could not see anything in peculiar. Sasuke pointed lower, and her eyes cast down.

Deep, bright red lanterns dotted the streets. Sakura was in awe. It was the city at night that Sasuke wanted to show her. During daytime the place was loud, bright, and full of energy. Now its inhabitants slumbered, but the hundreds of glowing lamps gave the city a silent, eerie vibrancy.

Sasuke felt a weight in his hand. The Book of Demons and Curses had arrived again. The Uchiha stared at the thin, black pen. It was lodged in the pages, as if it had been shoved there as an impromptu bookmark. Deciding that this was just one of the many characteristics of the cursed book, he simply took the pen, and began to write.

- Orihime's Kimono Shop: spark -

When he stopped writing, the book disappeared.

Sasuke glanced again to the medic. He caught a glimpse of her peaceful expression. He closed his eyes, took a small breath to calm back to his usual self, and embraced her from behind.

At the gesture, Sakura stiffened.

For a moment, nothing happened. Except for the strange pit growing in Sasuke's stomach. He was not even sure why he was bothered that she was as rigid as a tree. It made Sasuke want to hug harder, just to check that she was alive. Wait, he could not do that.

Sakura gradually relaxed. She saw that the embrace was one of comfort, not one of lust. "Danna-sama," Sakura murmured, "You're so warm..."

An odd feeling jumped in Sasuke. He did not know a proper reply after being addressed as 'dear lord husband.' Instead, he continued to hold her.

Sakura was about to close her eyes, when a loud noise hit her eardrums.

In the midst of red lanterns in the commoner's district, a large ball of fire exploded.

"A fire?" Sakura's body automatically jerked forward.

Sasuke clamped his arms around her. "Don't." He could already hear the palace guards shouting at each other.

Sakura was in a new panic. The red flames were already consuming a whole house. If she were to jump from this room and try to reach it, there was high risk that night guards would see her running the rooftops.

The roof of the burning building split apart. From the cracks, rose-colored beams streaked upward to the sky.

Sakura froze in partial surprise. 'My exorcism spells?' She then remembered the houses on which should could not perform her exorcism techniques. It turned out that her spells had not been deficient. Instead, something about the buildings had absorbed the spells, and kept them for future use. And now her magic was being released, with more physical destruction than she had ever seen.

Tiny youkai emerged from the roofs, dying at birth as the fire and exorcism spells consumed them at their hatching. Their burning remains rolled over and dropped to the paper lanterns, which spread the flames throughout the district.

Sasuke only kept his hold on Sakura, making sure that the guards caught her horrified scream.

* * *

Notes:

If you have questions, comments, or suggestions, please tell me! If I suck, by all means tell me. In an intelligent manner.


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